Perhaps former autocrat Sheikh Hasina, residing in India, herself wished that the current rulers would demolish the house at Dhanmondi 32. Along with the grief of losing her loved ones, she would gain fresh political leverage from the sorrow of losing the house. It would give her another opportunity to drown in tears, serving her self-interest.
This is why words like forgiveness, repentance, patience, generosity, and empathy do not appeal to her at all.
Sheikh Hasina’s demolition of Khaleda Zia’s residence on Mainul Road in the cantonment deeply anguished BNP supporters. Khaleda Zia herself has been carrying that profound sorrow to this day. Surely, her family also remains haunted by that pain. Now, in a turn of natural retribution, one of the cradles of the country’s liberation war, ‘House No. 32,’ has fallen victim. The founding leader of the nation has had to pay the price for the sins of the despotic daughter.
Had Sheikh Hasina and her councilors been good rulers, had they not undermined democracy, had they not conducted three fraudulent elections, had they not looted banks and reserves and smuggled billions abroad, had they ensured peaceful coexistence with BNP, Jamaat, and other political parties, had they not covertly supported the criminalization, extortion, and land grabbing by Awami League cadres across the country, had they engaged in politics with public interest at heart—perhaps August 5 or February 5 would not have happened.
After August 5, literally, nothing remained of the Dhanmondi 32 house but its skeleton. Instead of bulldozing it, the enraged students and masses could have taken control of it and sealed it off. People would have known that this house was one of the key centers of the 1971 Liberation War strategy and the blueprint for separating Bangladesh from Pakistan. If the historical site is erased, how will people understand whether Sheikh Mujib’s actions were right or wrong?
After all, Sheikh Mujib will never return to do politics in Bangladesh again. We see his descendants’ future as a big zero. Given this reality, since the brave students and masses will govern Bangladesh for the next thousand years, destruction or arson carries no constructive meaning. Destruction only leads to further ruin.
We are all part of nature.
Perhaps nothing happens without nature’s will.
Yet, We say...
Instead of spreading hatred, engage in rebuilding the nation and fostering harmony among people.
The world is not won by hatred, violence, arrogance, vengeance, or fascism—only by love.
Author: Journalist
February 5, 2025