Bangladesh
Grenade Attack Today is the 17th anniversary of August 21 grenade attack
Dhaka, August 21: Today is the 17th anniversary of the deadly August 21 grenade attack that shook Dhaka in 2004.
On this day in 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, an unprecedented grenade attack was carried out on a peaceful anti-terror rally of the Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. The then Leader of the Opposition and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was attacked.
Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was attacked when she came to protest against terrorism at a rally on the street in front of the central office on Bangabandhu Avenue. Though the party leaders and activists formed a human armor and saved Sheikh Hasina in the incident, a total of 24 leaders and activists, including Awami League Women's Affairs Secretary and wife of late President Zillur Rahman Ivy Rahman, were killed in the grenade attack. The subsequent verdict in the grenade attack trial involved the involvement of ministers and government officials in the then ruling BNP coalition government to prove that the attack was carried out with the direct influence of that government.
Observing the 17th anniversary of the attack, various political, social and cultural organizations, including the Awami League, will carry out programs. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the program has been shortened compared to other years.
The BNP-Jamaat-led four-party coalition government was in power then. On that day, the then opposition party Awami League organized a peace rally against terrorism, militancy and corruption.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the chief guest. Standing on a temporary truck platform on Bangabandhu Avenue before the anti-terror peace rally, a series of grenade attacks targeted her shortly after she finished her speech. One grenade after another exploded with a loud noise. Before anyone knew it, 13 grenade blasts turned the rally into a pile of human blood and flesh. Bangabandhu Avenue became a mortuary. The splinter's blow shattered various parts of the human body, including the hands and sides, and scattered around. Bloody frozen bodies were seen scattered around the stage truck. The back road in front of Bangabandhu Avenue was flooded with corpses and blood. The shoes and sandals of the victims were scattered. Within moments the whole area was engulfed in smoke. Hundreds of people burst into tears. It was an indescribably tragic scene with the moans and cries of the dying trying desperately to survive.
Sheikh Hasina miraculously survived the attack. The main target of the assassins was Hasina who not only survived the blasts, but another 12 rounds of bullets fired at her car. Fortunately, the glass of the bulletproof vehicle carrying Bangabandhu's daughter did not let the bullets pass through.
