Aug 21 marked with fresh call for fair probe
August 22, 2007 00:00:00
The third anniversary of the brutal grenade attacks on an Awami League (AL) rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the city was marked Tuesday with a renewed demand for a fair investigation into the gruesome political killing. AL and its allies observed the day with due solemnity, report UNB/ bdnews24.com.
On August 21, 2004, unidentified assailants launched an assault on an anti-terrorism rally in front of the AL's headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue. At least 24 people, including Awami League leader Ivy Rahman, were killed and several hundred others wounded in the heinous attack.
The then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped death but had her eardrums damaged.
Tuesday's commemoration was a low-key formality since a state of emergency is in force, barring all forms of political gathering.
The brief commemoration began with placing of wreaths at a memorial plaque on Bangabandhu Avenue.
The Awami League and its front organisations, the Workers' Party of Bangladesh and the Sammyabadi Dal placed the wreaths.
Relatives of the victims and some of those injured in the attacks also came to pay respect to those killed three years back.
The participants, wearing black badges, offered prayers for those killed in the grenade attack on August 21, 2004. National and party flags were kept at half-mast.
Hundreds of police, riot police and RAB were deployed outside Bangabandhu Avenue to avoid any untoward situation.
Terming the day as a day of disgrace, AL Acting President Zillur Rahman, in a broken language, accused the previous BNP-Jamaat-led 4-party coalition government of its involvement in the heinous attack.
He regretted his party chief not joining them. He said the main target of this attack was to kill Sheikh Hasina. "But she (Hasina) is now in jail and it's painful for all democratic forces."
"We demand the interim government open an investigation into the mayhem afresh and bring the assailants to justice," Zillur said as he along with senior party leaders visited the scene of the violence.
