In US, Khaleda Zia supporters storm Bangladesh consulate to remove Mujibur Rahman's portrait

As tension in Bangladesh escalated after ‘ousted’ Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India and protesters stormed the prime ministerial palace in Dhaka on Monday, the effects of the unrest could also be felt in New York on Tuesday when Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters entered the Bangladesh consulate and removed the portrait of Hasina’s father and former President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

In a video doing the round on social media, several members of the party can be seen entering the consulate in New York and interacting with the officials. The officials can also be seen pacifying the members as they enter the office in large numbers.

BNP supporters stormed inside the Bangladesh Consulate in New York in celebration to remove portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. pic.twitter.com/BifZ5SabN7

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) August 6, 2024

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Towards the end of the over two minute video, a couple of members from former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s party can be seen removing all the portraits of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman kept on a shelf of the consulate office.

This comes a day after hundreds of thousands of protesters defied curfew, marching on the capital’s streets and later stormed the prime minister’s palace.

Visuals showed crowds running into the premier’s official residence in Dhaka, waving to the camera as they celebrated.

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Soldiers and police with armoured vehicles in Dhaka had barricaded routes to Hasina’s office with barbed wire, AFP reported, but vast crowds flooded the streets, tearing down barriers.

Local media estimated as many as 400,000 protesters were on the streets but it was impossible to verify the figure.

Bangladesh’s army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said an interim government will be formed after the prime minister resigned and fled the capital in the face of overwhelming protests. “We will form an interim government,” he said.

On Monday, thousands of protesters also ransacked Hasina family’s ancestral home-turned-museum where her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — the country’s first president and independence leader — was assassinated. They also vandalised his statue in Dhaka.

Hasina, who had been in power since 2009, resigned on Monday and fled the country amid escalating anti-government protests.

Thousands stormed her official residence, setting fires, looting furniture, and even removing raw fish from the refrigerators.

Shortly after, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh arrived at the Hindon Air Base in India’s Ghaziabad on a C-130 transport aircraft. Reports indicate she may be heading to London to seek political asylum.

With inputs from agencies