Sheikh Rehana getting a govt house in Gulshan

The government is allocating a ‘reluctant’ Sheikh Rehana a house on one and a half Bighas of land in Dhaka’s upscale Gulshan for her being the daughter of the nation’s founding father.

The formalities to allot House no. 10 on Road no. 84 at a token price of Tk 1,001 to the Prime Minister’s only sister have been finalised, according to officials at the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.

“The process is being finalised to allocate a house in Gulshan to Bangabandhu’s (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) daughter Sheikh Rehana under the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Family Members Security Act, 2009,” Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain told bdnews24.com on Wednesday.

“The house will be given for a token price,” he confirmed.

Rehana was allotted a house in Dhanmondi for a token price of Tk 101 in 2001. She used the house to accommodate her personal staff.

But shortly after assuming power for a second time, the BNP government repealed the laws related to the security of the family members of Bangabandhu.

And the property in Dhaka's residential Dhanmondi district was handed to the home ministry to house the local police station by the then BNP government in 2003.

Sheikh Rehana, left, with her sister Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. File Photo

Sheikh Rehana was given the privilege of ‘buying’ the house for a token price as being a daughter of Bangabandhu.

She challenged the decision of Khaleda Zia government and got the house back. But a change of heart saw her return the house to the government.

That property now houses Dhanmondi Police Station.

Mosharraf, who sits on the ruling Awami League’s Presidium, said Rehana did not entertain the idea of being given a house this time too.

“But she has children who can stay there.”

“There is a court verdict that says Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Rehana be given a permanent address, we are working on that,” he added.

When asked if the proposal to set aside the residence was finalised by the Prime Minister’s Office, he said, “There is no secrecy here. We are looking into the court’s verdict and the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Family Members Security Act, 2009.”

The minister did not specify the exact location of Rehana’s proposed new home.

“It will be in Gulshan and we might have to tear down that old house and make her a new one.”

A senior ministry official, however, told bdnews24.com that the prime minister’s younger sister will get the road no. 84 NEL (2) House no 10, which rests on 1.65 Bighas. (1 Acre= 3.025 Bighas)

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the rest of the family were killed in a coup in 1975. His daughters Hasina and Rehana survived as they were living abroad during the assassination.

Khaleda Zia was also allotted a residence in Gulshan by HM Ershad when in 1981 her husband Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman was murdered.

The BNP chairperson ‘bought’ an abandoned house on one and half acres of land in Gulshan for a token price of Tk 101 after Zia's murder.

A house on eight Bighas of land at Shaheed Moinul Road in Dhaka Cantonment was also leased out to her on July 8, 1981 for Tk 1.

The BNP chief, however, did not move into the Gulshan home and instead decided to rent another in the area after being evicted from her home in Dhaka Cantonment by the Awami League government in 2010.