What BNP-led ruling machine said after 21 Aug grenade attack

After the gruesome grenade attack at a rally of the opposition Awami League (AL) on 21 August 2004, the BNP-Jamaat nexus staged a Joj Miah drama.

Then prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia made an oblique reference to the AL as responsible for the attack.

During a programme marking BNP’s founding anniversary on 2 September 2004, Khaleda Zia said, the ghastly grenade attack was aimed at diverting the people’s attention from the government’s success that made them (Awami Leauge) worried about their future.

In a statement issued by then president Iajuddin Ahmed following the attack, he said, only the enemies of the nation can launch such a gruesome attack.

On 30 August 2004 law minister Moudud Ahmed said, it was an attack on the country’s sovereignty, but the Awami League was unwilling to cooperate with the government in conducting the probe.

Then BNP secretary general and LGRD minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said, this incident is barbarous and unfortunate. Those who have carried this out are not human beings. They are enemies of democracy, enemies of the country and enemies of the people.

During a session of the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) on 15 September 2004, then state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar said, the government has given utmost priority to uncovering the mystery of the grenade attack. For the first time in the history of Bangladesh, the government has announced a bounty of Tk 1 crore for providing information about the perpetrators.

They (AL) are experts in bombing. Why they are blaming the BNP, asked then water resources minister Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed during the same JS session.

On August 21, Sheikh Hasina wanted more dead bodies like that of Ivy Rahman so that she can create a photo gallery of dead bodies. Like she had not implemented the verdict of her father’s killing during her tenure, she once again wanted to do business with the procession of these dead bodies, then state minister for youth and sports Fazlur Rahman Patal said in JS on 15 September 2004.  

The judicial inquiry commission is investigating the incident. Many more national and international probe agencies came to investigate. The government has nothing to do after all these, then BNP standing committee member and lawmaker KM Obaidur Rahman said in the parliament on 15 September 2004.

The BNP is being held responsible for the grenade attack, as the Awami League government wants to protect the actual culprits, said then acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on 21 August 2011.

The confessional statement made by Joj Miah during the BNP government was true. The supplementary charge sheets submitted of late are politically motivated, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said during a press conference on 21 August 2011, protesting the supplementary charge sheets in the 21 August grenade attack cases, which revealed the involvement of Tarique Rahman and government machinery in plotting the attack.