A human shield was made to save the leader in a ‘blood bath afternoon’
ছবি: বার্তা২৪.কম
August is a bloody chapter in the history of Bangladesh. Dark nights have come down again and again in the life of the nation in this month. The Father of the Nation was brutally killed in the dark of night with his family! Then the evil power of August 15 in the hole seemed to wake up again in August 2004. In the late afternoon of that day, Bangabandhu Avenue was flooded with blood in an attempt to kill his daughter!
Today is the 21st of August, a horrible day in the history of politics in Bangladesh. It was an afternoon which was full of gunpowder and blood-stained horrific political carnage. It is the day of composing another tragic chapter in the life of the Bengali nation. On this day in 2004, an attempt was made to assassinate the present Prime Minister, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina by throwing grenades. Leaders miraculously saved her life by making human shield. However, 24 Awami League leaders and activists met their deaths even though they managed to save their leader's life.
Ivy Rahman, the then president of the Mahilla Awami League and Sheikh Hasina's personal bodyguard were in the death procession that day. In the horrific, brutal grenade attack, Bangabandhu’s daughter survived luckily by chance, but her two ears and eyes were damaged.
Hundreds were injured in the attack. Many of whom have been crippled forever. Some never got back to normal life. Many are still suffering from the scars of the bloody splinter attack.
How was that bloody afternoon:
On 21 August 2004, a rally was organized in front of the party's central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in protest of the BNP government's terrorism and corruption. The then Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina was the chief guest at the event. The rally was going on by making a make-shift dias on a truck. Bangabandhu Avenue was crowded.
Sheikh Hasina went to the rally around 5 pm. She got out of the bulletproof vehicle and climbed on the temporary stage surrounded by security personnel and party leaders. She started her speech at 5:02 pm. At the end of the 20-minute speech, at 5:22 am, she was going to leave the stage after saying 'Joy Bangla' and 'Joy Bangabandhu'. But one journalist requested for a photo. Sheikh Hasina turned to dias again to keep the request of the photographer. Suddenly a grenade was hurled at her from the south. The grenade fell on the left side of the truck and exploded. Sheikh Hasina sat on the truck. The leaders who were with her made a human shield and surrounded her so that no injury is inflicted on her. At that time, Awami League leader Mohammad Hanif was hit by a grenade.
Within seconds of the first grenade, two more grenades were thrown at the truck. Within a minute and a half, there were 13 huge explosions like rain.
Then the then president of Dhaka Metropolitan Awami League late Mayor Mohammad Hanif and general secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Awami League central leader AFM Bahauddin Nasim, security officer Major (retd) Shoaib, personal staff Najeeb Ahmed and bodyguards grabbed Sheikh Hasina and quickly got her off the truck. She was put in her bullet proof Mercedes Benz jeep. However, Mahbub, the Awami League president's personal security guard who besieged Sheikh Hasina, died on the spot.
According to eyewitnesses and Awami League leaders, after the first phase of the attack, Sheikh Hasina was quickly removed from the scene towards the stadium. While the party president was leaving the scene, grenades came from the same direction with a break of a few seconds and started exploding on the spot. At the same time, gunshots were fired like rain on her car. It was not immediately clear where from the shots or grenades were coming from, but it was later revealed that the attack was well-planned. There were numerous signs of bullet shots and grenade attacks in the front and back of the Mercedes Benz jeep carrying her.
According to eyewitnesses, the place became like a battlefield after the incident. The sound of explosions, the screams of the injured, the rush of bloody leaders and activists made the whole area horrible. Blood splattered all around and human dismembered bodies. The shoes fell apart, they were red with blood. Many were seen running around in a bloody state on the way. Due to the grenade blast, the movement of vehicles in the area was stopped and the party leaders and workers had to be tired to send the injured to the hospital. The injured were first taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in rickshaws, ambulances, private cars, baby taxis and even rickshaw vans. At this time many people were seen falling to the ground in a bloody state and begging for help.
After overcoming the initial shock of the blast, the Awami League workers erupted in anger that day. Outraged workers began protesting in the streets. Meanwhile, after the incident, the movement of all kind of vehicles was stopped. Fires were seen burning in many places. Police then fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Police did not help to take the injured to the hospital, instead beating the protesting leaders indiscriminately and throwing tear gas.
Describing the horrors of August 21, Ashraful Alam Khokon said, "As a journalist, I went to cover the Awami League rally." Incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was speaking while standing on the truck stage. I was holding the microphone in my hand. Suddenly a monstrous sound banged. The first one is in front of us. I fell to the ground after being pushed by the public. People are screaming, running. I got under the truck. Thinking I was safe, I took the mobile out of my pocket. I called the office and said, ' Bombs are falling at the public meeting of Awami League.'I shouted, 'You carry on displaying in the scroll.' I looked at myself, office wanted to know whether I was ok. I saw that my trousers were bloody, blood was coming out from the abdomen through the T-shirt.
There was still conscious. I tried to get out by the side of Ramna Bhaban. Suddenly a tear shell came in my front. I got under the truck again. At that time I saw what was lying under my feet. Then I saw a grenade of olive color. I thought, if it's a blast, then it's over. Meanwhile, the whole leg was numb. What a horrible situation I saw when I was out. Someone's hands are down, someone's feet are down. Someone is moaning in a bloody state. Those who did not see the scene cannot believe what condition the women were in. What a horrible sight! The moment before death seemed to be.
I saw Ivy Rahman. She was standing on the side of the stage under the truck. Two colleagues saw me and dragged me to the sidewalk. I saw the police beating them with sticks. On the one hand, it is surprising that the rescue is far away; Inverted sticks and tear shells. Later some people picked me up in a van and brought to Dhaka Medical. The energy that was there at one time is slowly diminishing. My two colleagues Santosh Da and Shamim were looking. I will call that, but the sound is not coming out of the mouth. As Shamim was crossing me, I grabbed the side of his trouser with my hand. Then they saw me.
Then he took me to Holy Family hospital. Treatment begins there. Those who have not seen the bloody scenes of the hospitals that day cannot believe how horrible it was, how brutal it was.
After the grenade attack, the hospitals of the capital became heavy with the tears of the injured. The screams of the injured and the skyrocketing cries of the relatives shook the atmosphere of the hospital. Almost all the hospitals including Dhaka Medical College, PG Hospital, Mitford, Pangu Hospital, Holy Family, Heart Institute, Shamarita Hospital were filled with patients injured in the grenade attack. There was no place to store sesame seeds in the emergency department of the hospital in the crowd of seriously injured. The injured were shifted to different wards due to lack of space. Many in crisis are kept lying on the floor. There was no place for the injured in the corridor of the hospital.
Who were killed:
In that bloody incident of August 21, 18 people were killed on the spot. Later, the total death toll stood at 24 people. Ivy Rahman, a woman leader, died on August 24 of the same year after a 56-hour battle. Popular Awami League leader and first elected mayor Mohammad Hanif lost his battle for nearly a year and a half after being injured. Others killed in the bloody gruesome grenade attack were Sheikh Hasina's bodyguards Lance Corporal (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, Hasina Mumtaz, Rizia Begum, Rafiqul Islam (everyone's favorite Ada Chacha), Ratan Sikder, Mohammad Hanif alias Muktijoddha Hanif, Mushtaq Ahmed, Liton Motun. , Abdul Quddush Patwari, Billal Hossain, Abbas Uddin Sikder, Atiq Sarkar, Mamun Mridha, Nasiruddin, Abul Qasim, Abul Kalam Azad, Abdur Rahim, Aminul Islam, Jahed Ali, Motaleb and Sufia Begum.
Cases and judgments:
The day after the grenade attack on August 21, 2004, a murder case was filed with Motijheel Police Station by SI Shahid Farooq Ahmed. From the beginning, the then government tried to divert the investigation.
In 2008, the caretaker government took the initiative to re-investigate. It turns out that the Huji-B militants, in collaboration with the BNP government's deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, carried out the attack with the intention of killing Sheikh Hasina and making the Awami League leaderless. Following the investigation, the then CID ASP Fazlul Kabir filed two charge sheets in the court on June 11, 2008 under the Murder and Explosives Act. 22 people were accused in it. After the Awami League came to power in 2009, the CID further investigated the case and filed a supplementary charge sheet on July 3, 2011. Tareq Rahman and 30 others were accused in the case.
After a long time, the verdict of the case was announced on October 10, 2018. The court sentenced 19 people, including former BNP state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar and former deputy education minister Abdus Salam Pintu to death. The court also sentenced BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, Khaleda Zia's then political adviser Harish Chowdhury and 19 others to life imprisonment. The remaining 11 accused have been sentenced to different terms.
