20th anniv of 21 Aug grenade attack today
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the 21 August grenade attack on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital that left at least 24 people killed.
On this day in 2004, the attack targeted an anti-terrorism rally organised by the Awami League, with the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina as the apparent target during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government’s tenure.
Those killed in the attack include Ivy Rahman, Awami League’s women affairs secretary and the wife of late president Zillur Rahman. Over 300 others were injured. Although Sheikh Hasina survived, she suffered hearing impairment.
Fourteen years later, a Dhaka court sentenced 19 individuals to death for their involvement, including Lutfozzaman Babar, the BNP government’s then-state minister for home affairs.
Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and the party’s current acting chairman, along with 18 others, received life sentences.
Among the victims were Sheikh Hasina’s personal security guard Lance Corporal (retd) Mahbubur Rashid, Abul Kalam Azad, Rezina Begum, Nasir Uddin Sardar, Atique Sarkar, Abdul Kuddus Patwari, Aminul Islam Moazzem, Belal Hossain, Mamun Mridha, Ratan Shikdar, Liton Munshi, Hasina Mamtaz Reena, Sufia Begum, Rafiqul Islam (Ada Chacha), Mostaque Ahmed Sentu, Md Hanif, Abul Kashem, Zahed Ali, Momen Ali, M Shamsuddin, and Ishaque Miah.
Notable figures who sustained serious injuries include Sheikh Hasina, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, Obaidul Quader, Advocate Sahara Khatun, Mohammad Hanif, Prof. Abu Sayeed, and AFM Bahauddin Nasim.
