August 21st grenade attack: Awami League statement in memory of the martyrs

Staff Correspondent

Dhaka, August 21, Thursday — Bangladesh Awami League has issued a statement remembering those killed and injured in the horrific grenade attack of August 21, 2004. The statement referred to the day as a “terrible and shameful day” in the country’s political history.

The statement claimed that the brutal attack on the Awami League’s anti-terrorism peace rally was carried out with the direct support of the then BNP-Jamaat coalition government. The main aim of the attack was to eliminate the entire leadership of the Awami League, including party leader Sheikh Hasina.

In this barbaric attack, 24 activists including Ivy Rahman were killed and over 500 people were permanently maimed. The statement mentioned that the grenades used in the attack and other evidence revealed that Pakistan and its domestic agents were involved in this incident.

The statement further said that after the attack, the BNP-Jamaat alliance government tried to destroy all evidence. Later, during the caretaker government’s tenure, the investigation was re-investigated and the trial process began. The court completed the trial of the case for 11 years and sentenced 19 people to death and 19 to life imprisonment.

However, a High Court bench later acquitted the convicted criminals in a farcical verdict, marking another stain on the nation’s history, the statement said.

Expressing its commitment to establishing democracy, justice and human rights, the Awami League commemorated the martyrs with deep respect on this day and expressed its condolences to the injured. At the same time, it called on the countrymen to unite to resist extremist-communal militant groups and their supporters.

In the statement, the party expressed its firm commitment that the fight against terrorism, militancy and anti-humanitarian evil forces will continue, taking the blood and sacrifice of the martyrs as strength, and under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh will be taken forward on the path of democracy, development and peace.