PLACES TO VISIT

BANGABANDHU SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN MEMORIAL MUSEUM:

Everywhere you go in Bangladesh you will see images of the founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

His daughter Sheikh Hasina Wazed, 72, has been prime minister since 2009. She was overseas when her family members were murdered.

Rahman’s house, in the capital, Dhaka, has been turned into a museum.

This where Rahman, his wife Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib; their three sons – Kamal, Jamal and Russel – two daughters-in-law Sultana and Rosy, and his brother Sheikh Abu Naser were assassinated on August 15, 1975.

Assistant curator Kazi Afrin Jahan Julee said they have tried hard to preserve the house in how it looked on the day of the family massacre. “After the killings, the house was looted and it was sealed by the military from 1975 to 1981. During that time most things were damaged by dust and insects. With the help of donations, we tried to keep everything as it was when the family lived here,” she said.

Visitors can see the bullet marks on the walls and windows inside the house. There is also Russel’s aquarium and Rahman’s pigeons. The museum also managed to preserve the clothes the family was wearing when they were killed, like Rahman’s lungi.

THE SIXTY DOME MOSQUE:

Commonly known as the Shait Gumbad Mosque, in Bagerhat. It was built by Turkish general Khanul Azam Ulugh Khanajahan in the 15th century and is the largest brick mosque in Bangladesh. It is a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) heritage site.

Mohammad Tanzillur, chief executive of the Bagerhat district, said the mosque shows that there was an ancient city in the area and people from different religious groups lived together in harmony. “When he arrived, he revived the civilisation and people turned Muslim,” he said.

According to Unesco, the old city was created within a few years and covered by jungle after Khanajahan’s death in 1459.