15 August marked by tension, speculation

This year’s 15 August was a stark departure from previous observances.

After the Awami League government collapsed and Sheikh Hasina fled on 5 August, social media was rife with speculations that Awami League leaders and supporters might make a “showdown” on this day. 

It was further fuelled by a statement of Hasina as she called on the countrymen to observe the “National Day of Mourning”, the death anniversary of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 

“I request you to observe the National Day of Mourning on 15 August with due dignity and solemnity. Pray for the forgiveness of souls by offering floral wreaths to the portrait of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the premises of Bangabandhu Bhaban,” she said in a statement posted by her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in his verified Facebook profile on Tuesday.

In a bid to counter such efforts, by the night of 14 August, students and activists from different political parties started gathering around Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s erstwhile residence at Dhanmondi 32, later turned into a museum that was torched by arsonists on 5 August.

By 8am yesterday, barricades were visible on the roads surrounding the building, with students chanting anti-AL slogans in front. 

The streets were crowded with people carrying sticks, pipes, and national flags. Those suspected of being affiliated with the Awami League were questioned, with their mobile phones and Facebook accounts thoroughly checked.

BNP supporters could be heard chanting slogans in front of the Shamorita Hospital at Panthapath. From noon onwards, BNP and its student wing Chhatra Dal activists were seen chanting slogans and riding bikes through various streets of Dhanmondi.

In addition to the students, police, BGB, and army personnel were stationed at the Metro shopping mall intersection since morning. The police remained silent despite their presence,

When reports of violence emerged, the army intervened to calm the situation.

Although there were numerous allegations that the crowd attacked anyone affiliated with the Awami League or those who came to pay tributes to Bangabandhu, TBS was unable to confirm these claims. 

Students on the scene reported that 25 people had been detained for “suspicious movement” and handed over to the army by evening. 

Bangabir Abdul Kader Siddique, president of the Krishak Sramik Janata League, told the media that he faced public hostility when he tried to visit Bangabandhu’s house in Dhanmondi 32 yesterday.

“I went to lay flowers, but I couldn’t. A few people asked me to leave. I was inside my car when stones were thrown, and the car was damaged with sticks. So I left,” he said.

Many ordinary people also faced discomfort due to mobile checks and unexpected questioning by students or crowds.

Rezaul Karim, a private sector employee, shared his experience with TBS in front of Square Hospital: “While I was on my way to the office, some students tried to stop my rickshaw. When it didn’t stop quickly, around 15-20 people chased after me and checked my phone. It’s completely unacceptable.”

When asked why students had gathered around Dhanmondi 32, Saidul Islam Saad, a third-year student at Sir Salimullah Medical College, responded, “Since July, the Awami League government has brutally tortured and killed students. We have eradicated the roots of dictatorship in this country. However, certain vested interests are now attempting to undermine the interim government’s efforts to restore order and destabilise Bangladesh’s economic and political environment.”

In response to the backlash over phone checks of pedestrians, Anti-Discrimination Student Movement Coordinator Rifat Rashid stated in a press release, “We do not support any actions that invade people’s privacy. Such action is reviving forms of discrimination. Avoid anything that disrupts a citizen’s personal life, including phone inspections.”

Around 6pm, students vandalized Eram International Limited, a hotel in Shukrabad, after hearing it housed a liquor store. The army later arrived and brought the situation under control.

Unable to gather at Dhanmondi 32 throughout the morning, Awami supporters split into smaller groups and visited Banani cemetery, paying respects at the graves of Bangabandhu’s wife Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal, Sheikh Russel, and others killed on 15 August 1975.

Meanwhile, as part of the Anti-Discrimination Movement’s ‘Resistance Week’, students and coordinators gathered at Shahbag at 10am.

During the event, coordinator Sarjis Alam remarked, “Over the past 16 years, any development, even a single pillar built anywhere, has been credited to Sheikh Hasina. Therefore, for all the lives lost in this country, whether known or unknown, accounted for or unaccounted for, the credit must also go to the murderer Hasina. In this Bangladesh that strives for equality, we seek justice for her as well—justice that isn’t one-sided. We stand for fairness, even for the killer.”

On this day in 1975, the nation’s independence leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were assassinated by a group of military men at his house in Dhanmondi.

After assuming power in 1996, then prime minister Sheikh Hasina made the day National Mourning Day. When the BNP came to power in 2001, it reversed the decision. In 2008, the interim government reintroduced the holiday.

On Tuesday, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus cancelled the holiday following consultations with various political parties.