Bangladesh ex-PM palace to become revolution museum

DHAKA: The once luxurious palace of Bangladesh´s autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina will become a museum to honour the revolution that ousted her, the leader of the caretaker government said on Monday.

“The museum should preserve memories of her misrule and the people´s anger when they removed her from power,” Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus said as he toured the battered Ganabhaban palace, the former official residence of the prime minister.

The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer was appointed the country´s “chief adviser” after the student-led uprising that forced Hasina to flee by helicopter to India on August 5.The walls of the palace, looted and damaged in the chaos after Hasina escaped, are daubed with graffiti condemning her fallen regime.

The museum will include a replica of the notorious “House of Mirrors” Aynaghar detention centre operated by Hasina´s regime -- given its name because its detainees were never supposed to see any other person besides themselves.

“The Aynaghar should remind visitors of the torture endured by secret prisoners,” Yunus said.Hasina´s overthrow resulted in at least two days of chaos, which included the looting of a museum at the home of her father, Bangladesh´s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Apurba Jahangir, a press official in the office of Yunus, said construction would start by December.“The museum construction hasn´t begun yet, but it will start soon,” Apurba told Hasina has not been seen in public since fleeing Bangladesh.