Kol cops bolster security at Mujib museum in Baker Hostel
Times of India | 10 August 2024
Kolkata: Visuals of the statues of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman being vandalized in many places in Bangladesh went viral a few days ago but two tiny rooms in Kolkata where he had spent a few years as a student and started his political career are being protected by a team of Kolkata Police since Wednesday.
Rooms 23 and 24 on the fourth floor of Baker Hostel off Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had spent around five years in the 1940s while studying in Islamia College — now known as Mualana Azad College — are being closely guarded by a team of cops from Taltala police station.
In the late 1990s, the two rooms were converted into a museum where books and belongings of Rahman were preserved and his bust was installed outside. The rooms are also referred to as ‘Banga Bandhu Smriti Kaksha’. At present, outsiders have been barred from the floor and even the hostel staff — except senior ones — are not being allowed near the museum.
“A police team has been posted inside the hostel since Wednesday in the wake of incidents happening in Bangladesh. Nobody is allowed to get anywhere close to rooms 23 and 24,” said S M Hashmi, superintendent of Baker Hostel.
Rahman was a student of the erstwhile Islamia College between 1942 and 1947. He became the general secretary of the students’ union for the first time, which laid the foundation for the struggle for Bangladesh’s freedom.
“The bed, chair, table, almirah and some of his books are kept in the room,” said a staffer at the hostel.
“We have been instructed to guard the rooms properly and not to allow anybody close to the museum,” said a cop on duty.
The boarders of Baker Hostel are also on alert. “It is a matter of pride that Baker Hostel houses the prestigious Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Museum. Whatever is happening in Bangladesh is a matter of concern,” said a hostel boarder.