Bangladesh Caretaker Government Removes Founder Mujibur Rehman’s Portrait from President Office

Dhaka: Ever since the protests in Bangladesh unseated Sheikh Hasina in August, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s founder and Hasina’s father, seems to have been at the receiving end of protesters’ ire. Statues, portraits, busts, banknotes — anything that even faintly showcases the man who led Bangladesh to independence has been treated like an eyesore. In the latest incident, Mujibur Rahman’s portrait was removed from the Bangladesh president’s office by Muhammad Yunus led caretaker government.

Mujibur Rahman, and for that matter, 1971, the year when Bangladesh gained freedom from Pakistan, have become a contentious year for Bangladeshis.

On Sunday, Mahfuz Alam, an adviser introduced as the “mastermind” behind the protests in Bangladesh, said the photograph of Mujibur Rahman from the Darbar Hall in Bangabhaban, was removed.

This act has stirred shock and resentment among many Bangladeshis. Even former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the principal opposition party, stated that Mujib’s photograph should not have been removed.

However, hours later Rizvi had to apologise for his “unwarranted statement”, reported the United News of Bangladesh.

The act of removing Mujib’s portrait from the president’s office seems to be in line with the call of Muhammad Yunus, the head of the caretaker government, to “press the reset button”. The interim government has cancelled national holidays marking Mujib’s birth and death anniversaries and redesigned currency notes to take his face off from them.

Mahfuz Alam, who is special assistant to the Chief Adviser Mohammed Yunus-led government, said that it was a matter of “shame” that they “couldn’t remove his [Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s] pictures from Bangabhaban after August 5”.

“The photo of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a post-1971 fascist, has been removed from Darbar Hall… Apologies. But, he won’t be seen anywhere till people’s July spirit lives on,” he wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

The Mujib portrait in question was first removed by President Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed after assuming office in 1975. However, military dictator Ziaur Rahman reinstalled it following the Sipahi-Janata Biplob of 1975, according to BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.