Today is the bloody horrible 21st of August. August 21 is a terrible day of the most brutal massacre in the history of Bangladesh. The 16th anniversary of a hellish terrorist attack. During the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, unprecedented killings were carried out on this day in 2004 in a peaceful political rally in the heart of the capital Dhaka. The monstrous terror of violence attacks humanity through grenade attacks.
Incumbent Prime Minister and then Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina was attacked. It is clear from the type and target of the attack that the purpose of the grenade attack and firing was to kill Sheikh Hasina. Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was the victim of terror when she came to protest against terrorism at a rally on the street in front of the central office on Bangabandhu Avenue.
In that incident, the party leaders and activists made human armor and saved President Sheikh Hasina, but a total of 23 leaders and activists including Awami League Women's Affairs Secretary and wife of late President Zillur Rahman Ivy Rahman lost their lives due to grenade attack. The verdict in the trial of the grenade attack proved the involvement of the ministers and officials of the then ruling BNP coalition government. The attack was carried out with the direct help of that government.
Today, the Bengali nation will reverently celebrate the 17th anniversary of the worst grenade attack in history. President on the occasion of the day. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave the message. Various political, social and cultural organizations including the ruling Awami League have taken up the program. However, due to the corona infection, the program has been cut slightly 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 procession against terrorism, militancy and corruption. Today's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the chief guest. Standing on a temporary truck platform set up on Bangabandhu Avenue before the anti-terror peace procession, a series of grenade attacks targeted him shortly after the end of his 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. Splinter blows shatter various parts of a person's hands and sides and scatter 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. Shoes and sandals of the dead and injured were scattered. Within moments the whole area was engulfed in smoke. Hundreds of people cried out in the sky. The indescribably tragic scene with the moans and cries of the dying trying desperately to survive. On that day, not every hospital in the capital had a place to store the injured.