While agitated students and youths continued demolishing the Dhanmondi-32 residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, several other groups of protesters vandalized his murals and set fire to the homes of Awami League (AL) leaders across the country on Thursday.
A group of students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) vandalized a mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and defaced graffiti of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday.
Later, they removed the nameplate of Sheikh Hasina Hall, calling her a murderer.
Subsequently, the students also went to the institute and vandalized Sheikh Mujib's murals and erased graffiti of Sheikh Hasina from the wall of Al-Beruni Hall.
In Rajshahi, students vandalized the nameplates of four residential halls of Rajshahi University (RU) and a model school on Wednesday night, alleging that they contained "fascist symbols" and renamed them with new identities.
The protest, which began at around 9pm and concluded at 11pm at the university's Joha Chattar, saw students targeting the nameplates of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall, Sheikh Hasina Hall, Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall, the under-construction AHM Kamaruzzaman Hall and Sheikh Russell Model School.
The protesters renamed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall as “Shaheed Raihan Hall,” Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall as “Nawab Faizunnesa Chowdhurani Hall,” and Sheikh Russell Model School as “Riyagop Model School.”
Meanwhile, in the early hours of Thursday, students removed the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall of Dhaka University.
A procession of students reached the dorm around midnight on Wednesday, subsequently removing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's name from the main gate of the hall.
Later, they placed a banner on top that read, "Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall."
In addition, students also removed Sheikh Hasina's name, inscribed during the inauguration of the university's Amar Ekushey Hall.
In Narayanganj, leaders and activists of the district metropolitan BNP and pro-BNP lawyers demolished murals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at three locations, including the deputy commissioner's (DC) office.
The incident took place on Thursday afternoon, targeting murals in front of the DC office, superintendent of police office, and the District and Sessions Judges Court.
Earlier on Wednesday night, the mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, installed in front of the Sylhet deputy commissioner's office, was demolished with a bulldozer.
According to witnesses, a group of angry protesters arrived at the site at around 9:30pm on Wednesday with a bulldozer.
At the same time, the 'Sheikh Bari', a two-story building on Sher-e-Bangla Road in Khulna City, which is the home of five cousins of Sheikh Hasina, was demolished by bulldozers on Wednesday night.
At around 9pm, a group of students gathered and started vandalizing the house.
Homes of AL leaders vandalized
The house of Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader in Companiganj, Noakhali, was attacked, vandalized and set on fire.
The incident took place in Basurhat municipality around 1pm on Thursday, where a two-story house, a tin-shed structure and a kitchen belonging to Obaidul Quader’s younger brother, Abdul Quader Mirza, were extensively damaged.
One of the groups vandalized, and set fire to the residences of AL’s Barisal city unit President and former mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah and AL leader Amir Hossain Amu during protests in Barisal.
Protesters also began demolishing a sculpture of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman located at the Barisal Press Club.
In the early hours of on Thursday, leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, along with students and youths, gathered in front of Sadiq Abdullah’s residence on Kalibari Road in Barisal city.
Initially, the protesters attempted to breach the main gate with a bulldozer but were blocked by military personnel.
However, at around 1:30am, they successfully broke through the entrance and began demolishing parts of the house.
At around 2am, students from the same movement attacked the residence of Amir Hossain Amu on Bogra Road, near Opsonin Pharmaceuticals factory in Barisal city.
Security guard Mizanur Rahman said that the protesters broke through the iron gate with a bulldozer, ransacked the house and looted valuables.
They also stormed the residence of Sentu, a director of Opsonin Group, setting fire to his belongings.
Additionally, they demolished a tin-roofed house belonging to Opsonin founder Abdul Khaleque Khan.
While protesters attempted to bring down Amu’s main residence, they failed to breach the walls. However, they smashed windows and doors, looted possessions, and set fire to parts of the house.
Another group of protesters set fire to the house of Shahriar Alam, former state minister for Foreign Affairs, in Rajshahi at noon on Thursday.
Protesters set fire to Shahriar Alam’s three-storey house in Chaksinga Mohalla of Arani Municipality in Bagha Upazila at around 12pm.
Witnesses said that over 100 angry people coming on motorbikes from Bagha and Charghat upazilas gathered in front of the house and set it on fire.
In Jamalpur, the house of Mohammad Ali, former advisory council member of the Jamalpur District Awami League and father of actor Meher Afroz Shaon, was vandalized and set on fire on Thursday.
The incident took place around 6:30pm in the Narundi Rail Station area, Jamalpur Sadar Upazila.
Witnesses said that just before sunset, a group of students and locals organized a procession in Narundi Bazar. The procession moved through several roads before heading to Mohammad Ali’s house.
Later, a mob also set fire to the house of Awami League leader and former member of parliament Mirza Azam in Jamalpur city.
The unrest began when protesters brought a bulldozer at Azam’s house located in the Bakultala area.
At one point, when the bulldozer broke down, the students and public who were part of the protest set fire to the house on Thursday evening.
