Bangladesh’s interim government on Tuesday cancelled the national holiday on August 15, which marks the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, former prime minister and father of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The decision was approved at a meeting of the interim government’s advisory council at Dhaka’s Jamuna Government Guest House on Tuesday. Several parties, including Hasina’s Awami League, attended the meeting. The parties supported the interim government’s decision to cancel the holiday on August 15. An official order is yet to be issued.
August 15 is remembered as a national day of mourning in Bangladesh, marking the assassination of Mujibur Rahman in 1975. Mujib, the founder of Bangladesh, was popularly known as ‘Bangabandhu’, which means ‘Friend of Bengal’.
He was assassinated along with his family in a military coup at his residence. After Mujib’s death, his residence was converted into a museum.
Angry mobs vandalised Mujib’s statue and set the museum on fire after Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid violent protests.
Meanwhile, Hasina issued her first statement on Tuesday Since her ouster, Hasina has described the coup against her party, the Awami League, as a grave insult to her father and many martyrs. “The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, under whose leadership we have gained self-respect as an independent nation, achieved self-identity and achieved an independent country, has been gravely insulted,” Hasina said in a statement issued through her son Sajeeb Wazed.