August 5, 2024. What started as just another Monday of protests quickly turned into one of the historic moments of Bangladesh. There is no doubt that people will remember this day for generations to come, at least I will.
It was well speculated that the ruling government party, Awami League might give up their pursuit for staying in power. But I never anticipated how big the day would turn to be. At first broadband internet went down. Mobile internet was already shut down so any chance of collecting news was like putting a thread in the needle. Just like me, every print media journalists were collecting scrapes as there was no way of communicating with peers.
As an online sub-editor, my job is to collect news and work on them before uploading to our site and prepare statics for social media upload. So in a sense, my bread and butter depend on internet, which I felt like laughing at me from afar. Even VPN was not working. It truly felt like another nightmare-ish day similar to the first phase of curfew days when internet was completely shut down.
But that moment didn’t take too long to perish. At around 1:30pm news started circulating on TV that the army chief was going to address the nation at 2pm. I felt a certain ache in my heart. Normally the prime minister addresses the nation. What was going on? I immediately moved myself to the living room and glued my eyes on TV.
The anticipation
I wish I could tell my readers how intense that moment was. Every minute felt like an hour. Meanwhile internet got back so I quickly collected a few stories and uploaded them to the site to keep it updated. Soon came 2pm.
But wait, where is the army chief?
I was eagerly waiting and then the TV channel said the nation addressing got postponed till 3pm. After a while it said the addressing further postponed to 4:30pm.
Needless to say, my heart was about to initiate a full on panic mode!
The big news
The army chief did not yet address the nation then. But the TV ticker soon turned into another big breaking news, “Sheikh Hasina has resigned and left the country.” I was shocked. Sheikh Hasina was not the prime minister anymore. The daughter of Bangabandhu has fled her country. I immediately knew I could not hide anymore. So I quickly got dressed and went out to see what was happening outside. And oh my, did I see the true meaning of life or what?
Wind of change
The moment I stepped outside it felt like the entire city of Dhaka was fuming with rage. People from all walks of life were gathering around, chanting anti-AL slogans. At Tejgaon Satrasta, I saw a wave of people louder than MIG’s celebrating victory. A bonfire was lit nearby. I took my phone out and quickly snapped a picture or two. But Satrasta wasn’t the place I got out to visit. My destination was the PM’s residence, Ganabhaban.
Road to Ganabhaban
I knew I did not have enough time because the sun will not wait for me. So after heckling for a while I hopped on a rickshaw and reached Bijoy Saroni. And I could not believe what I was seeing. The vast street was entirely covered by people. It felt like forever to move forward as two APC’s with army soldiers were helplessly trying to cross the road. And to my utter surprise, people started throwing flowers at them. They were hugging the soldiers and saluting them. The soldiers were also seemed cheerful returning the love with hi-fiving back at them. I could not help myself from hi-fiving one of them either.
The rage
But soon both my eyes were shocking stuck at a large statue. The big figure of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. People were on top of it vandalising and trying to pull it down and the massive crowd watching was cheering at them. I saw a person on wheelchair watching the event. When I asked him how he was feeling at that moment, he simply said, “Whatever you can see happening right now is because of her daughter. The angry people will not want to leave a single print of AL existing in Bangladesh.”
I felt this incident may be left for criticism whether this was an act of democratic dominance after being oppressed for years, or a group of people simply got way too emotional. Whichever the case was, I could not stay there for long. My destination awaits.
Spoils of war
As I continued walking towards Ganabhaban, I saw many people walking with loots from different places. I found a guy casually flexing on a sofa he looted from Ganabhaban. Another guy was seen holding a big trophy. When I asked him where he got it from, he said he took it from the home ministers’ residence.
Almost everyone was walking with at least something they collected as souvenirs. TV, fridge, air condition, geyser, shower handle, bed, computer cpu, everything was seen being carried by people. Some were even seen walking with goats, chicken, plants etc.
A large crowd was seen entering and coming out from the Parliament carrying goods from inside. It was almost impossible to move forward. At one point I even thought I might fall into a stampede. As I moved forward I saw many people swimming on both the Parliament Lake and the Chandrima Uddyan Lake. Maybe I was exhausted from the crowdsurfing that I forgot to take a picture of that moment. And after a short while, I finally reached Ganabhaban.
The Ganabhaban
When I had arrived at the gate of Ganabhaban, I almost regretted my life choices. There was not an ounce of space not filled with crowd. It was too risky to go in. I saw some people crossing the water barrier and the high wall of Ganabhaban. I still decided to go through the front door and I experienced a huge crowd pushing me from both ends. After a brief while I finally got in, but then I was quickly lost. I had no idea Ganabhaban could be this big. It felt like a maze inside. After roaming for about 30 minutes, I finally found the PM’s residence.
Inside PM’s Residence
Had I been there earlier I could have seen place a little better. But the moment I got into Ganabhaban, I found it completely vandalised. People took it over. There was mud inside the residence, and it was dark as there were no lights. Everyone was heavy breathing from the push they experienced earlier. But inside is a completely different scene. I could see people destroying the glasses, burning flames and looting whatever they could found. Some people were seen coming out with documents. When I asked what they found, to my surprise, they looked like historic and a few other important documents.
It was very dark so I came outside. I saw people standing at different places of the building including the rooftop. There were people on the tennis court and at the small park. I even saw people using the slide to entertain themselves a bit. After staying at PM’s residence for two hours, I left Ganabhaban.
Conclusion
It is my personal belief that every revolution brings either a positive or a negative change. What will happen to Bangladesh is yet to be seen. But one thing is clear: people have shown their hatred pretty straight. A 15 years of oppression could not hold the emotion of the people of Bangladesh and I sincerely hope that the next generation will remember the sacrifice that led to the rebirth of the country.
The writer currently works as a journalist at The Business Post.
