The heinous grenade attack of August 21: Those who were martyred

❐ Special Correspondent

On August 21, 2004, a grenade attack was carried out at a rally in front of the Awami League central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. Sheikh Hasina and top Awami League leaders narrowly escaped, but 24 leaders and activists, including Ivy Rahman, were killed. More than 500 people were injured in the attack. Many of the injured were permanently disabled. Some of them never regained their normal lives. In this incident, party leaders and activists formed a human shield and saved Sheikh Hasina’s life. Although she survived, the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina’s hearing was damaged.

Later, the BNP-Jamaat government tried to cover up the matter by using a person named Judge Mia to make a confession about the grenade attack. However, during the 2007 military-backed caretaker government, the attack was re-investigated. The names of Mufti Abdul Hannan, leader of the banned militant organization Harkatul Jihad, and Abdus Salam Pintu, deputy minister of the then BNP government, came up.

The confessions of the perpetrators exposed the names of several BNP leaders and government officials, including Tarique Rahman, one of the top leaders of the BNP, and then State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar. Explosives experts said that the Argus grenade used in the attack came from Pakistan.

Regarding this incident, state lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal later told BBC Bangla, “The August 21 murder was carried out to wipe out the Awami League and the state machinery was involved in this murder, as per the observation of the verdict. The court said in its observation – like on August 15, 1975, the attack on August 21, 2004 was intended to kill Sheikh Hasina and make the Awami League leaderless. And the then government and state machinery were involved in this conspiracy. The conspiracy for this attack was hatched at Tarique Rahman’s Hawa Bhaban.”

Even during interrogation by the investigating officers, the nephew of the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her private secretary Saiful Islam Duke said that Maulana Tajuddin, who supplied weapons and bombs for the August 21 attack, was the brother of the then State Minister Abdus Salam Pintu. After the attack on Sheikh Hasina, the then BNP government helped him flee to Pakistan on the orders of Tarique Rahman. Even Mufti Hannan admitted to meeting with Tarique Rahman before the attack.

Those who were martyred in the grenade attack on August 21 were:

• Ivy Rahman, Women’s Affairs Secretary, Bangladesh Awami League
• Lance Corporal (Retd) Mahbubur Rashid, head of Awami League President Sheikh Hasina’s personal security team
• Rafiqul Islam (Ada Chacha), Advisor, Dhaka Metropolitan Awami League
• Mushtaq Ahmed Sentu, Associate Secretary, Awami League Central Sub-Committee
• Hasina Momtaz Rina, President, Dhaka Ward 15 Women’s Awami League
• Sufia Begum, activist, Dhaka Metropolitan (South) Women’s Awami League
• Belal Hossain, Co-Organizing Secretary, Dhaka Ward No. 69 Jubo League
• Liton Munshi, Jubo League leader, Madaripur
• Md. Hanif, labor leader, Ward No. 30
• Aminul Islam Moazzem, Jubo League activist
• Abdul Quddus Patwary, Volunteer League activist
• Momen Ali, Awami League activist
• Zahed Ali, Awami League activist
• Abul Kashem, Awami League activist
• Ishaq Mia, Awami League activist
• Shamsuddin, Awami League activist
• Mamun Mridha, Chhatra League activist, Government Poet Nazrul College, Dhaka
• Ratan Sikder, businessman
• Rezia Begum, Volunteer League leader
• Abul Kalam Azad, Joint General Secretary, Balughat Union Awami League Dhaka
• Nasir Uddin Sardar, Sramik League activist
• Atiq Sarkar, Jubo League leader
• Unknown-1
• Unknown-2