Remain alert against Aug 21 killers: PM

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina urged Thursday the people to remain alert against the persons and political parties responsible for the August 21 grenade attack of 2004 on an Awami League (AL) rally in the city, saying they can do any harm to the people and the country for their narrow interests, reports BSS.
"It's crystal clear that cabinet members of the BNP government, Tarique Zia and anti-liberation forces were involved in the heinous act perpetrated to kill me and other senior AL leaders," she said.
"Bangabandhu was killed at the instigation of Ziaur Rahman while his son Tarique Zia attempted to kill me on this day as part of their plan to destroy the pro-liberation forces," she said urging people to remain cautious about the return of the killers to power.
The PM was speaking at a rally after placing wreaths at the memorial of martyrs of the gruesome grenade attack at Bangabandhu Avenue in the city Thursday afternoon. The makeshift memorial was set up in front of the Awami League office at Bangabandhu Avenue where the militants lobbed 13 grenades on the Awami League peace rally on this day in 2004.
Sheikh Hasina first placed a floral wreath at the memorial as the prime minister and then another as the Awami League president. Cabinet members, PM's advisors, senior leaders of Awami League and 14-party combine and family members of the martyrs and those injured in the incident were present.
Deputy Leader of the Jatiya Sangsad Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury presided over the meeting while general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam also spoke.
One minute silence was observed in memory of those killed in the grenade attack while munajat was also offered seeking salvation of the departed souls. After speaking on the occasion, the PM met relatives of the victims of the grenade attack.
The PM said the AL arranged the rally in front of party office on August 21, 2004 in protest against terrorist activities of the militants across the country including an attack on British High Commissioner at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal ® in Sylhet.
"But the killers swooped on us committing such a crime in broad daylight which people of the country never saw before," she said. The killers lobbed 13 grenades and escaped from the scene under the cover of the law enforcement agencies.
Remembering the memories of the day, Sheikh Hasina said, "We had no way to protect us amidst explosion of grenades one after another. Losing my eyeglass it was also difficult for me to go for shelter. But, Awami League leaders protected me creating a human shield around me and saved my life."
Sheikh Hasina said, "The killers even fired shots at me when I was getting in the transport to leave the scene. But the bullet hit my bodyguard killing him on the spot and I was saved by the grace of Allah."
The heinous attack claimed the lives of 24 persons including Ivy Rahman, the then Mohila Awami League president and a popular leader for women emancipation, diehard Awami League worker Ada Chacha and injured nearly one thousand leaders and workers of AL, she said.