BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan claims his party had no involvement in the Aug 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally.
Published : 21 Aug 2015, 04:26 PM
He accuses the ruling party of implicating the BNP in the incident for ‘political reasons’ before adding his party does not practise the politics of killing opponents.
“The Aug 21 grenade attack is a heinous act of terrorism,” Khan told reporters, replying to a question on Friday in Dhaka, on the 11th anniversary of the attack.
“We demand proper investigation into the attack and punishment for the real perpetrators.”
The attack at Bangabandhu Avenue during the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government killed 24 people and maimed many others for life.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader, suffered hearing loss.
Awami League leaders claim the BNP assisted the attack to eliminate Hasina but the BNP denies the charge.
The government’s attempt to mislead the investigation was later revealed in the court.
Khan, the BNP Standing Committee member, faced questions on the incident from reporters on the anniversary of the attack.
“The Awami League blames us for political reasons,” he said replying to a question.
He said there was no place for terrorism in his party as it believed in democratic nationalism.
The people, according to him, did not believe what the Awami League said.
“They dub Ziaur Rahman, who called for the Liberation War, a Pakistani agent. They call Kader Siddiqui a Razakar (collaborator),” he said.
“Whoever speaks in their favour becomes a freedom fighter and those opposing them are branded Razakars.”
Gen Ziaur Rahman, a Liberation War sector commander, is Bangladesh’s first military dictator and founder of the BNP.
Decorated freedom fighter ‘Bangabir’ Kader Siddiqui took up arms to protest against the killing of the nation’s founding father in 1975.