August 21: A terribly scandalous day in the history of Bangladesh. It is a day of heinous mischief to make the pro-liberation forces leaderless in the country. The day of composing another tragic chapter in the life of the Bengali nation. On this day in 2004, an attempt was made to assassinate the present Prime Minister, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina by throwing a grenade. Though the leaders and activists made a human shield to save her, 24 leaders and activists including the then president of Mahila League Ivy Rahman and Sheikh Hasina's personal bodyguard died in this horrific, brutal, brutal grenade attack. Although Bangabandhu Kanya survived that day, her two ears and eyes were severely damaged. Irreparable damage is done to her hearing. She miraculously returned from the gates of death. The Bengali nation will never forget that horrific attack aimed at assassinating the top leadership of a political party.
The grenade attack on August 21, 2004 was one of the most shameful incidents in the political history of Bangladesh. The Dhaka Metropolitan Awami League organized anti-terror rallies and processions in the afternoon to protest the bombings in different parts of the country and the torture of the then BNP-Jamaat alliance government. Awami League President Sheikh Hasina addressed the rally in front of the party's central office on an open stage set up on an open truck. At the end of her speech, Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the anti-terror procession at 5:22 am. The whole of Bangabandhu Avenue, Gulistan, Purana Paltan and its environs were shaken by the loud sound of the explosion. Awami League leaders and activists were injured in the grenade attack and many fell to their deaths on the spot.
Grenades started falling on the meeting place from all sides. Within moments, the venue turned bloody, Bangabandhu Avenue turned bloody and a place of death. The screams of hundreds of people, the scattering of scattered bodies, the burning smell of blood and gunpowder created a horrible situation throughout the area. Instead of helping the injured, the police on duty there threw reckless baton charges and tear shells at the frightened and injured people.
Although Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina survived the grenade attack, 24 people, including Ivy Rahman, the wife of the late President Zillur Rahman and the then Awami League women's affairs secretary, were killed. Sheikh Hasina's ears were severely damaged by the loud sound of the grenade blast. The grenade attack killed 23 people on the spot. Ivy Rahman succumbed to his injuries at the Combined Military Hospital on August 24.
After the grenade blast, the Awami League leaders put human armor on the truck to protect the party president Sheikh Hasina. To save the leader of the party from this massacre, the leaders and activists covered her with human armor and quickly put her in the car. But on the way out of Bangabandhu Avenue, the assassins also fired incessantly at Sheikh Hasina's bullet proof Mercedes Benz car.
Those killed in the horrific grenade attack on August 21 are Ivy Rahman, Mostaq Ahmed Sentu, Lance Corporal (retd) Mahbubur Rashid, Rafiqul Islam Ada Chacha, Sufia Begum, Hasina Mumtaz Reena, Liton Munshi alias Litu, Ratan Sikder, Md. Hanif alias Muktijoddha Hanif, Mamun Mridha, Belal Hossain, Aminul Islam, Abdul Quddus Patwari, Atiq Sarkar, Nasiruddin Sardar, Rezia Begum, Abul Qasim, Jahed Ali, Momin Ali, Shamsuddin, Abul Kalam Azad, Ishaq Mia and two others.
Among the injured were the late President (then presidium member) Zillur Rahman, then presidium members Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, current General Secretary and Minister for Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader, former Dhaka City Corporation General Secretary Mohammad Hanif, League General Secretary Top level leaders of the party including Pankaj Debnath and leaders and workers of different levels. Although many of the injured have recovered after long treatment, many of them are still alive and paralyzed.
The BNP-Jamaat wanted to wipe out Bangabandhu's successor Sheikh Hasina and the leadership of the country's liberation war and non-communal consciousness by launching a grenade attack on August 21, 2004. Their efforts have failed. 33 of the 52 accused in the August 21 grenade attack are in jail; Among the 12 fugitives are Tareq Rahman in London, Harish Chowdhury in Assam, some in Canada, Bangkok, USA; Huji's top leaders have fled to Pakistan. If all of them are brought back to the country immediately, the rule of law will be strengthened in this country. It should be kept in mind that the grenade attack on August 21 is a document of BNP-Jamaat's misdeeds.
