The nation solemnly commemorates the 19th anniversary of the horrific August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka, standing united against such acts of terror through a series of planned activities.
On this day in 2004, a brutal grenade assault targeted an anti-terrorism rally organized by the Awami League at Bangabandhu Avenue. The then-leader of the opposition and current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, appeared to be the intended victim during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government.
The attack resulted in the tragic loss of at least 24 lives, including Ivy Rahman, Awami League’s women affairs secretary and the late President Zillur Rahman’s wife. Additionally, around 300 individuals sustained injuries, while Sheikh Hasina survived with impaired hearing.
After fourteen years, a Dhaka court rendered verdicts in the grenade attack case, sentencing 19 individuals, including Lutfozzaman Babar, the state minister for home affairs under the then BNP government, to death. Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and the party’s acting chairman, along with 18 others, were handed life sentences for their roles in the attack.
In observance of this day, the Awami League and its affiliated groups have organized comprehensive programs across the nation. A wreath-laying ceremony will pay homage to the martyrs of the grenade attack, taking place at the memorial erected in front of the party’s Bangabandhu Avenue office in Dhaka at 11 am. Subsequently, a commemorative discussion will commence at 11:15 am, presided over by Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Simultaneously, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has called upon leaders, activists, supporters, and well-wishers at all levels to join the country in observing the Grenade Attack Day on August 21.
The grenade attack claimed the lives of notable individuals such as Lance Corporal (retd) Mahbubur Rashid, personal security guard to the then-opposition leader, and several others, leaving an indelible impact. Injuries were also sustained by prominent figures like Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, and many more.
