Bangabandhu museum all set to go virtual

DHAKA: The jar of pickles still lie on the table. So does a soft drink bottle. Just next to it is a bicycle that was once a favourite of a 10-year-old boy. For a split second, one might feel that the boy will return to savour the pickle before going out for a spin in his cycle.
Time seems to stand still at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum ever since Bangladesh’s Father of Nation was assassinated along with eight members of his family on August 15, 1975.Even the 10-year-old Sheikh Russel — the youngest son of Bangabandhu — wasn’t spared. The 700 visitors, who come to the museum daily, see it all. Except the bedroom that once belonged to Sheikh Hasina. That room is kept under lock and key.


What actually makes this museum so special is the way everything has been preserved.

Time seems to stand still at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum

Bangladesh’s Father of Nation was assassinated along with eight members of his family on August 15, 1975.

Even the 10-year-old Sheikh Russel — the youngest son of Bangabandhu — wasn’t spared.

The 700 visitors, who come to the museum daily, see it all.
If all goes well, a virtual museum of all that’s on display at this museum will uploaded next month. “We are on the final stages of finishing the virtual museum work. By next month, we should be able to make it operational,” said Nazrul Islam Khan, the museum’s curator.

“We are on the final stages of finishing the virtual museum work," says the museum’s curator.
What actually makes this museum so special is the way everything has been preserved. The modest ground floor kitchen remains that way. Even the towel next to the wash basin is kept exactly the way it was in 1975. A thin plastic sheet is the only addition to prevent dust from accumulating.

When this house was handed over to Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina in 1981, its floor and walls were covered with dried patches of blood.

She gave it over to the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust for turning it in a museum.
When this house was handed over to Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina in 1981, its floor and walls were covered with dried patches of blood. She gave it over to the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust for turning it in a museum. Just outside on the wall is a collage of how the room had looked after the massacre. The stairway leading from the corridor throws up the most poignant reaction. It was here that Bangabandhu was repeatedly shot at.
If the plans materialise, a visitor will now have to just click online to view this and much more.