In the ruins of the ransacked official residence of the deposed Bangladeshi prime minister, among the Chanel and Swarovski shopping bags and an inventory of jewellery, ceramics and clothing given as gifts by foreign dignitaries, lie Labour Party posters and flyers produced by Tulip Siddiq.

The political literature of the anti-corruption minister, who is the niece of former leader Sheikh Hasina and stands accused of benefiting from the corruption of the regime, was found at the heavily guarded site in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was covered by dust and debris.

Next to a box for a $1,500 gold-trimmed Montblanc pen and a certificate for a diamond was a crumpled piece of paper containing a prominent UK barrister’s legal advice about halting the publication of investigative journalism on the regime by an international media organisation. Those appeared next to an application to open an overseas bank account.

Also seen were diplomatic cables relating to the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s first president and Hasina’s father.

On Saturday, this newspaper was granted exclusive access to the Ganabhaban, the official residence of Hasina. It contains dozens of rooms and is encircled by roughly 18 acres of gardens and its own lake in which the former premier is said to have fished. The national parliament stands nearby.

Hasina was deposed last year and today stands accused of corruption and “crimes against humanity”, including ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters.

When the site was stormed during a popular uprising last year, members of the public emerged with items including cash, furniture, freezers, sarees, jewellery and expensive meat and fish.

However, many items were left under rubble and dust. Others were returned following a public appeal and remain stored in an annexe next to the property.

At the top of a staircase were items produced by Siddiq. One was a thank you note to local Labour Party members following her election as MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.

Another was her annual report for 2022, inviting readers to learn about her help for those affected by the cost of living crisis.

The economic secretary to the Treasury has previously sought to distance herself from her aunt’s former regime in Dhaka. In 2017, she said they “never” spoke about politics.

The register of gifts, including one from the former foreign minister Alok Sharma [Image: The Times]

That same year, when asked if she would speak to her aunt about the case of a British-educated barrister “disappeared” by the regime, Siddiq threatened the pregnant reporter and reported her to police.

It has since been revealed that Siddiq has personally lived in three properties given to her or her family by regime officials and associates. The Sunday Times revealed that one was bought by an offshore trust named in the Panama Papers.

Other items which remain offer a stark illustration of the wealth amassed by Hasina, whose allies still hold hundreds of millions of pounds of property overseas, much of it in London.

Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, a Bangladesh film director and screenwriter who is currently an adviser at the cultural affairs ministry, told The Times and Sunday Times that the residence was being turned into a museum in order to warn people in his country and around the world about the dangers of facism.

He serves the interim administration of Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist who chose not to use the residence after his installation in August.

On Saturday, he called on Siddiq to apologise for using London properties gifted to her and her family by allies of the previous regime.

Siddiq, the MP for Hampstead & Highgate, denies that she benefited from a nuclear energy deal Hasina brokered with Russia, which is being examined by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), or any other allegedly corrupt venture.

She and her family have also been given or used five London properties bought by members or associates of Hasina’s party, the Awami League. These are not under formal investigation.

Siddiq has referred herself to the prime minister’s standards adviser and has insisted she has done nothing wrong.

However, she is facing growing calls to resign. Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, echoed the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s calls for Sir Keir Starmer to sack her, saying he needed to “get a grip” as it was now “impossible” for her to do her job. On Sunday, Peter Kyle, the science secretary, refused to say that the government had full confidence in Siddiq.

The military had run the Ganabhaban since the revolution. However, since Thursday night, it has been overseen by the cultural ministry, which intends to open the museum by August to coincide with the anniversary of the uprising. Access has been and remains heavily restricted. The site remains guarded by officers from the Bangladesh Ansar, a paramilitary force.

At the entrance, a collection of chairs, some rimmed with gold paint, had been arranged for staff to sit on. They were monitored by a janitor who had been there since Hasina’s rule and could point out the bedrooms used by Hasina and other family members accused of corruption. Nearby lay a dental chair, a leather massage chair and a treadmill.

Inside and outside the walls were covered with graffiti produced by those who raided the site last year. Some slogans were in Bengali, imploring whoever succeeded Hasina not to steal. Another, in English, states: “Killer Hasina.”

The main entrance to the property is daubed with red graffiti which reads in Bengali: “Modi’s wife fled”. Hasina’s proximity to India, where she remains in exile, was one of the most controversial features of her rule.

On the first floor, which is accessible through a grand staircase, lies Hasina’s room. Although heavily damaged, several items remained intact, including a stamp commemorating 50 years since Bangladesh’s war of independence, featuring her portrait, and what appeared to be a detailed timeline of the day of her father’s death at the hands of rogue military officers, including transcripts of phone calls.

In the corner, swept under rubble, was one of several statements of authentication by the Gemological Institute of America, the world’s foremost authority in grading diamonds.

Hasina spent several years in London, and her sister Rehana, Siddiq’s mother, lives in a £1.2 million Golders Green house owned by an offshore trust. In Hasina’s bedroom was found a packet that had contained a pair of £2.50 M&S ankle-high sheer matt socks.

Next door, in her personal kitchen, was a bag of barbecue flavoured Hula Hoops, which are not available locally.

Down the corridor was the room used by Radwan Mujib Siddiq, known as “Bobby”, Siddiq’s brother. On the floor were several of his UN business cards — he is described as a “governance expert” — and his mobile phone bill.

Ironically, his network was Grameenphone, a telecommunication service founded by Yunus, the interim leader, who was subjected to years of political persecution by Hasina’s government. The Times recently reported that Bobby was a pivotal figure in a regime-linked “propaganda” unit.

Outside, in a storage area of returned items, was a document in perfect condition itemising the goods given by visiting politicians and businessmen and women to Hasina.

One was a scarf from Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who visited in 2021. He had been accompanied by Jean Castex, the former prime minister of France, who brought a gold souvenir.

Another came from Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister at the time, who presented a China tea set.

Alok Sharma, the former foreign minister, who visited in 2021, is listed as having given a teacup on behalf of the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi newspaper called the Daily Observer, which was previously owned by Hasina’s ex-media adviser, gave her a portrait of Hasina posing with two family members: Rehana, her sister, and Siddiq, her niece.

In the same room, there was a dusty copy of Our Time, a newspaper so closely linked to the former regime it had been edited by Hasina’s press secretary. Dated December 2023, months before she was deposed, its main story read: “PM Sheikh Hasina is on the list of powerful women in the world.”

In the garden, hidden within the long grass, was a dated black-and-white picture featuring Sheikh Mujib and his baby daughter, Hasina.

Source: The Times

BDST: 1428 HRS, JAN 13, 2025
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