The recent attack on Bangladesh’s iconic national monument ‘Dhanmondi 32’ — the house where the nation’s founding father, ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, lived and died — has left many within and beyond Bangladesh with a sense of foreboding. On 5-6 February, the building, which also housed the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, was allegedly vandalised and torched by a mob.
As striking images of the demolition spread, news of further attacks on buildings associated with Rahman and his followers, as well as Sheikh Hasina, the ousted leader of Bangladesh and Rahman's daughter, surfaced. The message seemed to be clear. The Bangladesh that Rahman and his followers envisaged and built would no longer be celebrated. Or even allowed to exist.
The apparent rise of conservative forces garbed as political opposition in Bangladesh since Hasina’s departure has raised concerns both within the country and India, its biggest neighbour with which it shares a long and porous border.