Today marks the 19th anniversary of the horrifying grenade attack on a protest against terrorism held by the then-opposition Awami League in the capital on August 21, 2004.
On this day in 2004, when the BNP-Jamaat coalition government was in power, a peaceful anti-terrorism gathering was attacked in front of AL’s headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue in the nation’s capital.
To defend the then-opposition leader and current prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the party leaders and volunteers created a human shield.
Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangabandhu, miraculously escaped that day’s hellish grenade attack. While Sheikh Hasina, the assassins’ primary target, was being hastily transported to a safer location from the scene, 12 rounds of ammunition were fired at her automobile.
The bulletproof truck, however, that was transporting Bangabandhu’s daughter, was impenetrable. Sheikh Hasina was immediately sequestered in a car and driven to her previous residence, Sudha Sadan in Dhanmondi, following the incident.
However, the incident resulted in the deaths of 24 individuals, including the late president Zillur Rahman’s wife and the then-Women Affairs Secretary of the Awami League, as well as over 500 other injuries, many of which resulted in permanent paralysis.
The brutal grenade attack also claimed the lives of Abul Kalam Azad, Rezina Begum, Nasir Uddin Sardar, Atique Sarkar, Abdul Kuddus Patwari, Aminul Islam Moazzem, Belal Hossain, Mamun Mridha, Ratan Shikdar, Liton Munshi, Hasina Mamtaz Reena, Sufia Begum, Rafiqul Islam (Ada)
Sheikh Hasina, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, Obaidul Quader, Advocate Sahara Khatun, Mohammad Hanif, Prof Abu Sayeed, and AFM Bahauddin Nasim were notable victims of significant splinter wounds.
After the grenade attack, fear and horror swept through the entire metropolis. This massacre was widely condemned and mourned both domestically and abroad.
After the incident, the police aggressively charged the protest march with batons and tear gas while the Awami League leaders and activists were busy trying to defend themselves and others. At the same time, all evidence of the bloodshed was removed.
The ruling AL and its affiliate organizations, as well as social, cultural, and professional organizations, have planned lavish programs to mark the milestone.
At 11 a.m., wreaths will be laid at the altar erected in honor of the martyrs of the grenade attack in front of the party’s Bangabandhu Avenue center office.
