Hundreds of student protesters and political activists in Bangladesh armed with bamboo sticks, iron rods and pipes have assaulted supporters of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The clashes on Thursday prevented them from reaching the previous house of Ms Hasina’s father and assassinated independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the capital Dhaka.
The house in the Dhanmondi area was turned into a museum to showcase narratives and other objects about a military coup on August 15, 1975, when Mr Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members.
The house, now called Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, was torched by the protesters hours after Ms Hasina’s downfall on August 5 following an uprising during which more than 300 people were killed.
Mr Rahman is fondly called Bangabandhu or, a friend of Bengal.
Thursday is the anniversary of Mr Rahman’s death and Ms Hasina, now self-exiled in India, urged her supporters to commemorate the day by paying respect to her father.
Previously, August 15 was a public holiday and was observed as a national mourning day by Ms Hasina’s administration
That has been cancelled by an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus following the ouster of Ms Hasina, who survived in 1975 along with her younger sister because they were visiting Germany.
On Thursday, the protesters attacked Ms Hasina’s supporters who attempted to get to the site.
They manhandled many and checked visitors’ phones and identity cards while threatening journalists for filming the incidents at the scene, witnesses said.
Another group of protesters on Thursday chanted “Naraye Takbeer, Allahu Akbar” or, “Allah is Great, Shout of Allah is Great” as they marched through streets in the area where the museum site remained blocked with barbed-wire fences.
The protesters, who arrived at Ms Rhaman’s house first on Wednesday, attacked a prominent actress as she along with dozens of Ms Hasina’s supporters reached there to light candles as part of the commemoration.
Overnight, they held a party using loudspeakers and playing songs as they danced outside the museum, which was set on fire during the anti-government demonstrations earlier this month.
The protesters said they were out to stop the gathering of Ms Hasina’s supporters as they could attempt to create chaos in the name of commemoration.
Sarjis Alam, a key organiser of the student protests, said on Thursday they would continue to demand the trial of Ms Hasina as he led a rally in the Shahbagh area.
Sam Jahan, a video journalist for Reuters, protested against the harassment by the protesters, in a Facebook post.
“It is fair enough what you, the political activists, student protesters want to achieve, politically. But when you try to stop my rolling camera, resisting the freedom of the press and when you manhandle my colleagues, I will speak up,” Jahan wrote in the post.
The country’s leading English-language Daily Star newspaper reported that their journalists faced trouble at the scene and they were forced to delete photos and videos.
The protesters have been demanding trial of Ms Hasina for the killings during weeks-long violence and cases have already been filed against her and other close party colleagues and top police officials.
More than 300 people were killed in unrest that started in July with protests against a quota system for government jobs that later morphed into a movement against what was considered Ms Hasina’s increasingly autocratic administration. The uprising eventually forced Hasina to leave office and flee to India, ending her 15-year rule.
