Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has said the police were too afraid to step outside during the demolition of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's residence at Dhanmondi 32, explaining the interim government's inaction during the incident.
He made the statement on Wednesday at Chatham House in London in response to a question from a journalist following his speech. Local journalist Samia Akter asked him why the administration did not act when the house was being destroyed by bulldozers.
In response, Dr Yunus said: “At that time, the government had effectively become paralyzed. The police were too afraid to go out on the streets. We didn’t know how to handle the situation.”
He added: “Many issues and crises emerged at once. It wasn’t possible to manage everything properly together. It was a period we had to go through.”
He also said: “Over time, things gradually returned to normal. Restoring order in the country was our top priority.”
Yunus continued: “It was a time when the police had lost their legitimacy in the eyes of the people. Citizens were saying-- You shot my brother, my son, my sister—and now you’re telling me to go home?”
He added: “The public was enraged at the police. Had the police taken to the streets then, they would have been attacked.”
“We inherited a police force that had recently opened fire on children,” he further added.
However, Yunus noted that the situation gradually improved with time.
“Fortunately, time worked in our favour. People began to accept the police again. Now, order has returned to the country, and that was our biggest challenge,” he said.
Notably, following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32 was attacked, vandalized, and set on fire.
On February 5 this year, a group of people demolished the building after announcing the action on Facebook.
An excavator from the city corporation was used, and hundreds of individuals with hammers and crowbars took part in the demolition.
