No AL programme marking August 21 grenade attack

NN Online Report:

The Awami League held various programs marking the 20th anniversary of the August 21 grenade attack on an AL rally at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Avenue that killed at least 24 people, but this year there was no program.

On this day in 2004, during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government’s tenure, the attack targeted the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina the apparent target.

Every year on this day up until last year, the AL placed floral wreaths at the Martyr’s Altar built in front of the AL’s central office in the capital’s Bangabandhu Avenue in remembrance of those killed in the attack.

However, the party did not announce any such programme this year, and no activists of the party were seen paying homage at the altar.

The Awami League has been in disarray since the party’s president Sheikh Hasina fled the country in the wake of a student movement to reform the quota system in government jobs, which eventually morphed into large-scale anti-government protests.

In the past, during the AL government’s tenure, the prime minister and the president would also give a message on the occasion, but this time, no such messages were conveyed. The party also used to hold a discussion programme every year, which would be chaired by Sheikh Hasina.

The only sign of acknowledgement of the day was seen in the cover photo of the party’s Facebook page, which was changed yesterday.

The cover photo bears some glimpses of the attack.

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.