Government Moves to Preserve a Pivotal Chapter
Bangladesh’s caretaker government confirmed plans to transform the Ganabhaban — once the heavily guarded official residence of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina — into the July Uprising Memorial Museum. The initiative, taken in two phases and costing over Tk 111 crore, will be overseen by the Public Works Department in coordination with the Bangladesh National Museum under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
The project will commemorate the student-led protests of July–August 2024, which culminated in Hasina’s dramatic ouster on 5 August that year. Graffiti condemning her regime, painted during the uprising, will remain untouched to preserve the atmosphere of that historic moment.
Echoes of Protest Within Palace Walls
The Ganabhaban, built by Hasina’s father and first leader of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, became her official home during her 15 years in power. During the mass revolt, thousands stormed the palace — some dancing in her bedroom, eating from the kitchens, and swimming in its lake. Today, the same spaces will be curated to reflect the resistance and collective grief of that period.
Exhibits will feature personal belongings of protesters who lost their lives, their stories told through photographs, films, and plaques listing the names of victims killed under Hasina’s rule.
Interactive installations, animations, and preserved detention cells will document the oppression faced by political opponents, while creating a space for young visitors to reflect on democratic values and envision a new Bangladesh.
Violence, Flight, and Ongoing Trial
Hasina fled to India by helicopter as her government collapsed amid allegations of severe human rights abuses — including mass detentions, extrajudicial killings, and the deaths of an estimated 1,400 people during the protests, according to the United Nations. She now faces multiple charges amounting to crimes against humanity in a Dhaka court but has refused to return, rejecting the court’s authority.
Witnesses in her ongoing trial have described being shot by security forces, denied medical care, and held in inhumane conditions. One victim told the court that a gunshot left his leg barely attached, and that medical treatment was deliberately delayed. Another recounted being blinded in one eye when police fired at close range.
A Museum to Remember — and Warn
Caretaker leader Muhammad Yunus has framed the museum as a tool to both preserve public memory and confront the legacy of what many describe as an autocratic regime. The aim, according to its curators, is not only to record the suffering of the past but also to inspire future generations to defend democratic principles.
Although Ganabhaban will remain in the same condition as it was on the day of Hasina’s departure, other reminders of her leadership have not held up, with demonstrators demolishing her late father’s house, toppling sculptures, and burning paintings. On the other hand, the museum aims to serve as a lasting remembrance of a revolution that changed the political landscape of Bangladesh.
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