Dhaka Bureau: Today is Monday, August 21. August 21 is the terrible day of one of the most brutal massacres in the history of Bangladesh. Today is the 19th anniversary of the infernal terrorist attack. On this day in 2004, during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, this unprecedented grenade attack was carried out at a peaceful anti-terror rally of the Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. A monstrous terror of violence through grenade attacks infects humanity.
The then-opposition leader and current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, was infected. Khabar bus. Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was the victim of a terrorist attack while protesting against terrorism in the street in front of the central office at Bangabandhu Avenue. In that incident, the party leaders and activists protected Sheikh Hasina by creating human armor, but a total of 24 leaders and activists, including Ivy Rahman, the Awami League’s women’s affairs secretary and wife of the late President Zillur Rahman, lost their lives due to the grenade attack. Later, in the judgment of the trial of the grenade attack, the involvement of ministers and government officials of the then ruling BNP coalition government was found to be evidence that the attack was carried out with the direct support of that government. Today, on the 19th anniversary of this heinous grenade attack in history, the Bengali nation will remember the victims of the attack with respect. Various political, social, and cultural organizations, including the Awami League, have undertaken programs to observe the day.
At that time, the BNP-Jamaat-led four-party coalition government was in power. On that day, the then opposition party Awami League organized a peace rally ‘against terrorism, militancy, and corruption’. Today’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, was the chief guest. Ahead of the anti-terrorist peace rally, he was pelted with grenades as soon as he finished his speech on a makeshift truck platform set up on Bangabandhu Avenue. Grenades began to explode one after another with a loud sound. Before realizing anything, the gathering place turned into a pile of human flesh and blood in the horror of the explosion of 13 grenades. Bangabandhu Avenue turned into a death pit. With the impact of the spinner, various parts of people, including hands and feet, were scattered around. Bloody, coagulated bodies can be seen scattered around the conference truck. Dead bodies and blood floated down the sloping road in front of Bangabandhu Avenue. The shoes and sandals of the dead and wounded were scattered. In no time, the entire area was engulfed in smoke.
The screams of hundreds of people The scene is indescribably tragic with the screams of the dead, who are desperately trying to survive. On that day, every hospital in the capital did not have a place to hold the injured. Sheikh Hasina miraculously survived the infernal grenade attack. Seeing that the main target of the assassins, Sheikh Hasina, had survived, 12 rounds were fired at her car. However, the targeted bullets could not penetrate the bulletproof vehicle carrying Bangabandhu’s daughter. Immediately after the attack, Sheikh Hasina was cordoned off in a car and taken to her then-residence, Sudha Sadan, in Dhanmondi. In the bloody incident on August 21, 16 people were killed on the spot. Later, the total number of victims stood at 24. Apart from Ivy Rahman, Lance Corporal (retd) Mahbubur Rashid, Hasina Mumtaz Rina, Rizia Begum, Rafiqul Islam (Ginger Uncle), Ratan Shikder, Mohammad Hanif, aka Freedom Fighter Hanif, Mushtaq Ahmed, Liton Munshi, and Abdul were killed in that bloody and horrific viol grenade attack. Quduch Patwari, Billal Hossain, Abbas Uddin Shikder, Atiq Sarkar, Mamun Mridha, Nasir Uddin, Abul Qasem, Abul Kalam Azad, Abdur Rahim, Aminul Islam, Zaheed Ali, Motaleb, and Sufia Begum Dhaka Mayor Mohammad Hanif and others fought with the grenade spinner. Some were defeated. Four hundred Awami League leaders and activists were seriously injured in the attack and are still living inhumane lives with splinters on their bodies. Journalists of various print and electronic media were injured.
Many leaders and activists are still mourning the death of the grenade spinner of that day. Although many leaders and activists were immediately treated at home and abroad, they have not fully recovered so far. Meanwhile, after the grenade attack, fear, apprehension, and terror engulfed the entire capital. The excitement and grief over this massacre spread across the country and abroad. After the attack, when the Awami League leaders and activists were busy trying to save themselves and others, the police charged the protest march fiercely with batons and tearshells. At the same time, all traces of the thrilling event were destroyed. Later, the BNP-Jamaat Jyot government staged the drama ‘Judge Mia’ to cover up the incident with state sponsorship and direct support.
Program: In memory of those who died in the grenade attack on August 21, flowers will be offered at the Shaheed Bedi constructed in front of the central office of the Awami League at Bangabandhu Avenue on Monday at 11:30 a.m. Besides, a discussion meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m. and 15:00 a.m. to protest the infernal grenade attack on August 21 and remember the victims. Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over it and deliver an important speech. The General Secretary of the Awami League and Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, Obaidul Quader, called upon the leaders, workers, supporters, and well-wishers of the Awami League and its allied and fraternal organizations at all levels to observe the Grenade Attack Day on August 21 with due dignity.
