Ousted Bangladesh PM Hasina's residence to be converted into democracy museum

The building, previously known as Gono Bhaban, will serve as a space for public engagement and democratic discourse, according to its new curators. This development follows Hasina's ouster and her abrupt flight to India amid growing public unrest and widespread protests against her administration.

University student Muhibullah Al Mashnun, 23, expressed frustration over the political symbolism tied to the residence and past leadership.

"The statues of Sheikh Mujib that have been brought down, those were less the statues of Sheikh Mujib, they were more the statues of dictatorship. The dictatorship evolved here, keeping its statue in the front of us for the last 16 years," Mashnun said in an interview with AFP. "In the name of the spirit of liberation war, in the name of the spirit of Sheikh Mujib, this dictatorship stood still in the last 16 years."

Tanzim Wahab, who is overseeing the museum's conversion, outlined the site's intended purpose.

"It is supposed to be used as a forum for democratic thought. There will be a stage here, various events will take place here, and there will be conversations here. We want young people to become stakeholders in Gono Bhaban, to use it as a platform for discussing democratic ideas, new thinking, and how to build a new Bangladesh," Wahab said.

Human rights advocate and documentary photographer Mosfiqur Rahman Johan, 27, emphasised the symbolic importance of the site.

"Gono Bhaban is a symbol of fascism, and also the symbol of an autocratic regime. For me, this is the place where everything has been done by Hasina and her mercenaries," Johan said.Thousands of demonstrators entered the residence after Hasina and her sister, Sheikh Rehana, fled by helicopter on August 5, arriving in Delhi via Agartala. The walls of the palace remain marked by graffiti denouncing her leadership.