PM pays tribute to August 21 grenade attack victims

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has paid rich tributes to the victims of the August 21 grenade attack in 2004 and prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls of the martyrs.

As the prime minister, she placed wreaths at the altar built in memory of the martyrs in front of the party's Bangabandhu Avenue centre office at 10:58am on Monday. Afterwards, she pays tributes as the Awami League (AL) president. Sheikh Hasina then took part in a discussion event.

On August 21 in 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, this ghastly attack was carried out on a peaceful anti-terrorism rally in front of AL's Bangabandhu Avenue central office.

The party leaders and activists formed a human shield to protect the then opposition leader and incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina miraculously survived the infernal grenade attack that day.

But, 24 people including the then Women Affairs Secretary of Awami League and wife of late President Zillur Rahman were killed and over 500 others were injured in the attack and many of them became crippled for life.

Those others killed in the barbaric grenade attack included the then opposition leader'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.

Prominent among those who suffered serious splinter injuries included Sheikh Hasina, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, Obaidul Quader, Advocate Sahara Khatun, Mohammad Hanif, Prof Abu Sayeed and AFM Bahauddin Nasim.

/KN/