Let's Visit to that House Number 32

Picture: collected

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman lived with his family in this house No. 32 on the banks of Dhanmondi Lake in Dhaka. Bangabandhu, the architect of independent Bangladesh, spent important time in this pill. He has given direction to the nation in the struggle for independence. This house bears many of his memories today. However, this house is no longer just a house. This house, which carries the memory of our great liberation war, has been turned into a museum. The name of the museum is Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum. You can visit the house on holidays, it will allow you to travel at an important time in Bangladesh.

That history is still alive today

We know that history also has history. There is a similar history of building this house. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was so busy with politics that he could not keep any news of home and world properly. Bangabandhu's wife Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib handled this aspect. The Bangabandhu family had no place in Dhaka. In 1954, Bangabandhu became a minister in the United Front cabinet for the first time. But that government did not last long. In 1956, the Awami League formed the Congress, the Scheduled Castes Federation and the Ganatantri Party. Ataur Rahman Khan was elected Chief Minister of the government.

Bangabandhu was the Minister of Commerce, Labor, Industry and Anti-Corruption in that cabinet. Nuruzzaman was Bangabandhu's PS then. At that time he was living with his family as a minister in the house No. 15 on Abdul Gani Road. At that time plots were being allotted to people of different classes and professions from PWD. One day Bangabandhu's PS Nuruzzaman collected an application form from PWD and handed it over to Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib. And duly filled and submitted the application form. At the beginning of 1958, a plot of one bigha was allotted to Begum Mujib. The value of which is estimated at six thousand rupees. Of this, first two thousand rupees and later the remaining four thousand rupees were paid in installments as per the rules.

In the same year, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was elected General Secretary of the Bangladesh Awami League and left the ministry. In 1956, when Bangabandhu was the chairman of the Tea Board, a house was allotted to him in Segunbagicha.

Picture: collected

But in 1956 Ayub Khan issued martial law and arrested Bangabandhu. After Bangabandhu's arrest, on 12 October, Bangabandhu's family was asked to vacate the Segunbagichar house within three days. He was forced to leave the house on October 15. Then Siddheswari Boys rented a house next to the school ground for Rs. 200 per month. Within a few days, it became known that Sheikh Mujib's family lived in this house. The owner of the house asked Begum Mujib to leave the house. He was forced to leave the house and went back to the second floor of a house in Segunbagichar with his children.

Brick upon brick

On October 1, 1970, Bangabandhu was released from jail and joined Alpha Insurance Company as Controller of Agencies. It was then that Begum Mujib realized that she had to make a living anyway. After the release of Bangabandhu, an initiative was taken to build a house in the place allotted to Begum Mujib. The construction work of this house No. 32 in Dhanmondi started from 1980-81 with the help of loans and friends and a loan from House Building Finance Corporation. The construction work of Bangabandhu's house was supervised by the then PWD executive engineer and later the public works secretary Mainul Islam. Bangabandhu's political and official colleagues also cooperated in various ways in the construction of this house financially.

Bangabandhu's devoted colleague Nurul Islam of Hajiganj in Chandpur was the most supportive. As an officer of Alpha Insurance Company, he had a spiritual and family relationship with Bangabandhu. Cross word lottery games were compulsory for everyone in that office. One day Sheikh Rehana's name was used in the lottery. On the same day he got six thousand rupees. He deposited this money with Begum Mujib. When there was a financial crisis in the construction of the house, Nurul Islam requested to use the deposited money. At his request, the money was taken as a loan and later repaid. The window grill of the house was provided by the then Central Awami League leader Matiur Rahman of Rangpur. Arj Ali of Tungipara in Gopalganj was the caretaker during the construction of the house.

Bangabandhu touched

Somehow Bangabandhu completed the construction of the house and moved into the house with his family on October 1, 1971. The one-storey house then had two bedrooms. Bangabandhu and Begum Mujib lived in one room. Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana lived in another room. Next to him was another room. That room was used as a kitchen. Sheikh Kamal and Sheikh Jamal lived on one side of this kitchen. There was a small room to enter the house. This room was used as a drawing room. Bangabandhu and his wife Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib completed the two-storey house at the beginning of 1986 by tilting the house at No. 32. Planted many plants around. Especially papaya trees.

Picture: collected

Bangabandhu loved to eat papaya. I liked pigeons. Her pet pigeon grazed on my chest. The trees were covered with shade. The leafy water of the tree used to wet me. The rustling of dried leaves fascinated me.

Dream home

There is no account of how many important meetings were held here after Bangabandhu came to this house. No one has counted how many hundreds of people have come and sat here. Only because of Bangabandhu this house once became the home of the hopes and aspirations of the Bengalis and the dream of independence. In the meantime, the house was closed from 15 August 1975 to 11 June 1971. After the martyrdom of Bangabandhu, the government sealed the house.

The background of freedom

The anti-Ayub movement of 1962, the 6-point movement of 1966, the general election of 1970, the non-cooperation movement in early 1971, the formulation of Bangabandhu's plans in all these cases, exchange of views with party leaders and workers, listening to the sufferings of the common people. This house is number one. Domestic and foreign journalists also flocked to this house during the turbulent days of '71. 'This time the struggle is for liberation, this time the struggle is for freedom' - the outline of that historic speech on March 7 was made by Bangabandhu sitting at the conference table of this house.

After independence, when Bangabandhu was the President of the independent country, he still conducted state affairs from this house. He has been arrested and taken away from this house by Pakistani soldiers numerous times. The last arrest was made on the night of March 25, 1971. All in all, on the eve of our great liberation war in 1971, this house became the house of history. It was from this house that Bangabandhu sowed the seeds of freedom and liberation struggle of Bengalis and spread them to the lives of seven and a half crore Bengalis.

Red bloodshot night

August 15, 1975. 29 Shravan 1382. The Fajr call has just started on Friday morning. The last remnants of the night's darkness have begun to fade. The last day of Shravan. The air is wet wet. Suddenly, military jeeps, tanks and heavy trucks pounded on the road in front of the house. Then shots and shots. At first, a group of murderers entered every house on the ground floor and opened fire indiscriminately. The assassins crossed the first step of the stairs to the second floor and came to the second step. Bangabandhu is standing on the stairs wearing a white Punjabi on his lungi.

Picture: collected

At that time, the shots were fired. Bangabandhu fell down the long stairs. The assassins then killed 18 people, including Begum Mujib. They are Bangabandhu's eldest son Sheikh Kamal, Mejo's son Sheikh Jamal, younger son Sheikh Russell, two daughters-in-law Sultana Kamal and Rosie Kamal, Bangabandhu's brother Sheikh Nasser, brother-in-law Abdur Rob Serniabat and his daughter Baby Serniabat, Arif Serniabat, daughter's son Sukant Abdullah Babu, Bangabandhu's nephews Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni and his wife Arju Moni, Bangabandhu's security officer Colonel Jamil Uddin Ahmed and 14-year-old Abdul Naeem Rintu. The floor of the house was floating in the blood of so many people. There were blood and bullet marks all over the walls.

The way the residence is a museum

Incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was elected President of the Awami League in 1981 and returned home. But within a year, the people's leader Sheikh Hasina saw an auction notice in the newspaper. Bangabandhu's house number 32 was also in the list of auction notice of House Building Finance Corporation. Bangabandhu Kanya rushed to the office of House Building Finance Corporation without any delay. After paying the arrears of Tk 12,000, the possession of the house was handed over to Sheikh Hasina. But he handed over his ancestral house to the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust for conversion into a museum without owning it or anyone else in his family. The Bangabandhu Memorial Trust turned the house into a museum. Named after the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum. The museum was inaugurated on August 14, 1994. This is the history of Bangabandhu's house number 32. It is no longer an ordinary house. It is now the home of history. The heroism of the Bengalis is the home of pride.

The sights of the museum

As soon as you go in front of the gate of Bangabandhu Bhaban, you will see a poem on the left wall. You will be welcomed by the famous poet Annadashankar Roy's poem 'As long as Padma, Meghna / Gauri, Jamuna flow / As long as Kirti is yours / Sheikh Mujibur Rahman'. Upon entering the museum building, a portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will be visible on the ground floor. In the first room of the museum on the first floor, history has been presented through pictures. Here are photographs of Bangabandhu's conversations and exchanges of greetings with the governments and heads of state of different countries of the world at that time. This room was the drawing room. Where Bangabandhu used to sit and meet various political personalities from home and abroad.

The room next to this room was the reading room of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He used to sit here and write. From here he sent the Declaration of Independence in '71. As you climb the stairs, you will see signs of violence that night. Bullet marks on glass on the wall. Besides, there is a portrait of Bangabandhu's bullet-riddled condition painted by an artist. The first room you would see on the second floor was Bangabandhu's family sitting room. The next room after that was his bedroom. The next room is Sheikh Rehana's bedroom. Various memorabilia of Bangabandhu and his family are now on display in these rooms. It is not just a family memento, it is an important chapter in the history of a nation.

Picture: collected

The museum's exhibits include Sheikh Russell's toys. Such as- ball, hiccup, bat, helmet, his picture with Sultana Kamal etc. Besides, there are various items including pipes and spectacles used by Bangabandhu. Here is a mourning book. At the end of the visit, writing the words of the mind in the mourning book, it seems that the barrier of everyone's mind is broken. Many become forgetful. A visitor guide is here to assist visitors. It may be mentioned that a new six-storey building has been constructed on the land behind the house No. 32. The expanded museum was inaugurated on August 20, 2011 in this building.

Location and address

Google map: here

The museum is located on the west bank of Dhanmondi Lake in the Dhanmondi area of ​​Dhaka. Address: Bangabandhu Bhaban, House 10, Road 32 (old), 11 (new).

Writer : Sayka Arifin Orpita

(Information collected)

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