Khaleda Zia party supporters storm Bangladesh in New York, remove Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s portrait

A video of the incident is doing rounds on social media. In it, several members—wearing red or the Bangladeshi flag on their heads—can be seen storming the consulate while the authorities try to control the situation. By the end of the video, a couple of members from former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s party can be seen removing all the portraits of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman kept on the shelf of a table.

Earlier on Monday, thousands of protesters ransacked Hasina’s family’s ancestral home-turned-museum where her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — the country’s first president and independence leader — was assassinated. They also vandalised his statue in Dhaka.

Hasina, who had ruled the country since 2009, resigned on Monday and fled the country as the anti-government protests intensified, with thousands storming her official residence, where they set fires, carried out furniture and pulled raw fish from the refrigerators. Hours later, the former Bangladesh PM landed at the Hindon Air Base in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad on a C-130 transport aircraft. Media reports suggest that she is likely to go to London, where she may seek political asylum.

Interim govt to be formed in Bangladesh

Shortly after Hasina’s exit, Bangladesh Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman announced that the military would soon form an interim government. He, along with President Shahabuddin and key opposition leaders, met with Shahabuddin’s press team and said it had been “decided to form an interim government immediately”. However, it is not yet clear who would lead the country.

Meanwhile, the President dissolved the Parliament, which was formed after elections in January this year and ordered the release of prisoners from the protests, as well as former prime minister and key opposition leader Khaleda Zia – who was jailed by Hasina for graft in 2018.