18th anniversary of August 21 grenade attack

Today is the 18th anniversary of the August 21 grenade attack that left 24 people, including women's affairs secretary of Awami League (AL) Ivy Rahman, dead and scores others injured. The dastardly and cowardly grenade attack on 21 August 2004 is one of the darkest chapters in the annals of history. Ironically the attack was carried out at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on that day. AL president and the then opposition leader in parliament Sheikh Hasina–obviously the target of the vicious attack– narrowly escaped. The grenade attack of August 21, 2004, is perhaps the most shocking political crime in the country’s history after the assassination of Mujibur Rahman. Indeed as a renowned political observer stated what occurred on Aug 21, 2004 was part of a pattern set in motion years back in Bangladesh’s history. The sinister objective was the elimination of the leadership of the Awami League and, by extension, the mutilation of national history. There are proofs that the then government and its leadership shamelessly misdirected investigations to destroy its opposing force.

The grisly attack sent shivers down the spines of Bangladeshi across the length and breadth of the country and beyond. Even 17 years down the road, the scars of the traumatic incident remain as a stark reminder that the forces of regression can stoop to any length to decimate Awami League leadership in general and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in particular. The day is also a reminder of the need to remain ever vigilant against the forces of evil.

As the clock struck 5:22 pm on that fateful day, all hell broke loose as assailants hurled grenades indiscriminately at the rally in front of the Bangabandhu Avenue head office of the party. Besides the sound of grenade blasts, men and women were screaming either in panic or in pain after being hurt.

The area was flooded with blood and pieces of human flesh. The worried world sought to know the status of Sheikh Hasina, who suffered serious injuries to her right ear, but survived as the fellow party men formed a human shield. The grenade targeting her luckily did not explode.

It became yet another black day in the history of Bangladesh —- an unprecedented deadly, barbaric and bizarre incident that stunned the world. 24 people including the then Women Affairs Secretary of Awami League and wife of late President Zillur Rahman were killed and over 500 others were injured in the attack and many of them became crippled for life.

There have been numerous attempts on the life of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over the years. She survived miraculously on each occasion. She and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana were not in the country when August 15, 1975, massacre, in which her father was killed, took place. According to media reports, there have been at least 19 assassination attempts carried out against Sheikh Hasina. In one such heinous attempt, during the Ershad regime, a public rally of the eight-party alliance was to be held on 24 January 1988 at Laldighi Maidan in Chittagong, Bangladesh. An armed attack was carried out on the motorcade of Sheikh Hasina while she was going to the spot from Chattogram airport. On 10 August 1989, two Freedom Party armed men carried out an attack on the residence of Hasina at Dhanmondi, Dhaka. On 2 April in 2002 during the BNP-Jamaat government, miscreants opened fire on Hasina's convoy at Gournadi in Barisal.

Much to the relief and gratitude of millions of Bangladeshis Sheikh Hasina survived all the attacks and is steadfastly leading Bangladesh towards development and prosperity.

After 14 years, in 2018 Dhaka’s 1st Speedy Trial Tribunal handed down the verdict of August 21 grenade attack case. The court awarded death sentence to 19 people including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and life imprisonment to 19 including ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s fugitive son Tarique Rahman and Haris Chowdhury. We believe that all the guilty should receive their due comeuppance.