10 years of the grenade attack

Today is August 21. Ten years ago on this day, the gruesome grenade attacks on an Awami League (AL) rally in the city’s Bangabandhu Avenue left more than 60 people dead and over 1000 injured, many of them maimed. Mohila Awami League (AL’s women affairs body) chief Ivy Rahman was among those killed in the series of grenade explosion in front of the party office on Aug 21, 2004. ‘It felt like everything was engulfed by fire, my whole body was burning,’ said Aleya Ferdous, one of the survivours, calling the horror. The AL leader from Barguna, currently a reserve seat MP, still has some splinters lodged in her body, reminding daily of that fateful day. Investigations revealed that the main target of the attack was AL President and the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina. Further investigations revealed that the course of the probe was diverted by the then administration. Former investigators have been charged in court in this connection and are currently standing trial. Some political leaders, including former ministers, are among the accused in the Aug 21 grenade attack cases, according to a news agency.