Besides persecuting the Hindu and religious minorities, Bangladesh is wiping out every shred of the country’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s legacy. In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court stayed a High Court order that declared “Joy Bangla”—the slogan that remained a symbol of Bangladesh’s freedom struggle— as the country’s national slogan. The verdict came after Chief Advisor to the interim government Mohammad Yunus challenged the High Court decision.
The government filed a special plea in the Supreme Court in reaction to a High Court ruling dated March 10, 2022, designating ‘Joy Bangla’ as Bangladesh’s national slogan. Following Sheikh Hasina’s undemocratic ouster, Yunus’ government implemented significant changes, including removing the image of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, from the currency and replacing it with religious architecture, Bengali traditions, and graffiti from the ‘student protest’ in July 2024.
Now on 10th December, Chief Justice Syed Rifat Ahmed and others decided that ‘Joy Bangla’ could no longer be deemed the national slogan backing the government’s viewpoint.
Even during the anarchy unleashed by Islamists in August, the violent protestors destroyed several Bangladeshi historical heritage sites in their bid to wipe out the legacy of “Bangabandhu” Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Several heritage sites associated with Bangladesh’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were vandalised during the recent conflict. OpIndia reported that the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in the Dhanmondi area in Dhaka.
This museum was dedicated to Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1975. Similarly, the protesters in Dhaka climbed atop a large statue of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s father and hammered the statue’s head with an axe.
