DHAKA: Bangladeshi mobs torching TV stations, protesters lounging in beds in the premier’s home and bloody corpses: eyewitnesses described chaotic scenes after the prime minister was ousted on Monday and the military took power.

For some, the end of Sheikh Hasina’s rule was something to celebrate, as they waved flags from the rooftop of her home after she fled the country by helicopter.

Messages flooded social media with people greeting each other on Facebook by saying: “Happy independence day.” “I can’t express my feelings in words, I’m so happy,” Mohammad Bashir, 35, one of the millions of Bangladeshis who flooded the streets after the army chief declared he was forming a caretaker government.

“Now my only wish is to take care of all the families of the killed people and students, and to deliver justice.”

The resignation of Sheikh Hasina was something to celebrate for Bangladeshis, with many waving flags from the roof of PM’s palace after she left the country

Crowds took their revenge on the fallen leader. Some smashed statues of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s first prime minister.

Others set a museum to him on fire, flames licking at portraits in destruction barely unthinkable just hours before, when Hasina had the loyalty of the security forces under her autocratic grip. Offices of Awami League across the country were torched and looted, eyewitnesses said.

Hundreds of people stormed the parliament building, with broadcasters showing protesters cheering wildly, jumping on tables, and setting off what appeared to be smoke bombs.

‘Liberated’

Sazid Ahnaf, 21, was among those on the streets of Dhaka, calling the toppling of Hasina a “proud moment”.

“I feel so happy that our country has been liberated,” he said.

“We have been freed from a dictatorship. It’s a Bengal uprising, what we saw in 1971, and now seeing in 2024.”

A key symbolic target of protesters was the premier’s official residence, a sprawling palace in the heart of the capital. Some were shown on broadcasters laughing as they explored Hasina’s home after five terms as prime minister — lying in the beds and carrying off furniture and books and televisions.

Others raided the kitchen, gleefully devouring food that was left behind. Even ornamental fish in the extensive gardens were netted and pulled out, with people waving those they had caught for the camera. Others posed with animals they found in the former premier’s home, including goats and rabbits. Murals and statues of Sheikh Mujib were again defaced or smashed with hammers.

Mobs also broke into the home of the chief justice, stealing cars and furniture. The army said it was in charge, but many police official who had often led the crackdowns on deadly protests since July, feared reprisal attacks.

“Many police stations have been attacked, some police officers were killed,” a senior police official said.

“It is mob rule.”

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2024