Awami League leaders recount the grisly Aug 21 grenade attack

The asphalt was strewn with bodies and body parts, with shoes and blood spattered all around. The silence of a late afternoon was pierced only by the agonising groans of the wounded. This was the scene at Bangabandhu Avenue 16 years ago after a series of blasts turned a peaceful rally of the Awami League into one of the darkest chapters in the country's political history.

The gruesome grenade attack left at least 24 people dead. But those who survived are still haunted by the memories of the harrowing experience.

On the afternoon of Aug 21, 2004, tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Awami League headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue to attend a rally. Led by Sheikh Hasina, then the leader of the opposition, the Awami League had called the rally in protest against a series of blasts, including the one that killed a party leader in Sylhet earlier that month.

Perched on a makeshift podium on the back of a lorry, Hasina was about to finish her address when a string of explosions rang out, sending panicked onlookers scurrying for cover amid a cloud of smoke.

As it transpired, the leaders and activists of the Awami League became the victims of the very atrocity they had banded together in protest against.

Top leaders of the Awami League accompanied Sheikh Hasina on the makeshift stage on a truck. Amir Hossain Amu, a member of the present advisory committee, was just behind her.

He recounted the horrific events of that day to bdnews24.com.

"Initially, we tried to hold a rally at Muktangon in protest against the series of blasts across the country, the killing of our leaders and activists and the attack on them at a shrine in Sylhet among other issues. As the administration prevented us from holding the rally there, we moved the venue to Bangabandhu Avenue,"  he said.

"Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina was a little late to the venue as the leaders and activists took out processions from different places. She came to the stage when Mohammed Hanif, the president of Dhaka Metropolitan Awami League, was addressing the crowd. We heard a big bang the moment Hasina finished her address.

And then there was a series of grenade blasts. Amu took cover on the truck behind Hasina when the explosion took place.

"I couldn't comprehend what was happening. I just laid down. Then our leaders took Sheikh Hasina to her car. I got up on my feet and saw blood everywhere. People were groaning. Metropolitan Awami League leaders took me and Suranjit Sengupta out of the truck. I was at a loss for words when I saw people crying amid pools of blood. I thought to myself, 'What has just happened?'"

The government provided ample opportunities for the attackers to flee the scene safely, Amu alleged.

“They began to fire tear-gas shells after our leader had left as all our injured leaders and activists were lying on the ground. This was done only to ensure that the attackers could flee.”

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader was also injured in the incident.

“Towards the end of our leader’s (Hasina) speech, I got off the lorry and went near her car. Usually, one or two of us [AL leaders] remain near the car to see her off. That day it was me who went to the car just a couple of minutes before the grenades were hurled,” Quader recalled.

“Hasina was about to get off the lorry when we heard the bang. Another followed within a moment as smoke engulfed the entire area. One grenade went off just beside me, while I was standing beside our leader’s car and it threw me off my feet. After that our leaders and activists took me to the hospital. I had to stay in the hospital for a long time to receive treatment. It was a horrid memory.”

Those grenade splinters still remain in his body, causing acute pain, the road transport and bridges minister added.

Dhaka Metropolitan Awami League, led by Mayor Hanif, organised the rally that day, with the unit's general secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya moderating the event. Hanif suffered critical splinter injuries while shielding Hasina and died one and a half years later.

“Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina had asked the Metropolitan Awami League to organise a rally in protest against the ongoing terrorism, series of blasts and attacks on Awami League leaders and activists. Hanif Bhai and I went to discuss the matter with General Secretary Abdul Jalil who said he spoke to Sheikh Hasina and asked us to organise the rally at Muktangon with permission from the administration,” said Maya.

“Accordingly, on Aug 18, we wrote to the Dhaka City Corporation, police commissioner, and the DC office to allow us to hold the rally, but there was no response until Aug 20. We realised that they (administration) won’t allow us to hold the rally at Muktangon. Therefore, we spoke to Jalil Bhai again and prepared to stage the rally in front of the Awami League office,” he added.

The big lorry and a table, which the organisers brought on Hasina's suggestion, saved her life that day, according to Maya.

“Usually we seek suggestions from our leader Sheikh Hasina before any rally. That day she suggested that we bring bigger trucks than usual as the smaller ones ended up being crammed with people with little room to move,” said Maya.

“We subsequently brought steel-bodied lorries weighing 7 tonnes each from Tejgaon. These trucks had four feet high side panels compared two-and-a-half feet ones on smaller trucks. Only the rear panel of the truck could be opened, not the side panels. A big table was brought from the office and used as a podium in front of Hasina.”

While most people acknowledge that a ‘human shield’ formed by the party leaders on stage, saved Hasina, Maya pointed out that the grenades would have landed on the makeshift stage had the truck's side panels been any lower.

Hasina was pushed under the table by her fellow leaders once the explosions began, he recalled.

"As her speech ended, photojournalist SM Gorky and a few others came and said they could not take pictures of her. Hasina took the microphone again and stayed for a minute more. Then the explosions began just as she was about to get off the stage and Hanif Bhai and I pushed her under the table,” said Maya.

Once the blasts had ceased, Maya and others brought Hasina off the truck and put her inside the car.

“She asked, "Where are you taking me while my fellow leaders and activists are lying here?'”

“I told her we’ll check on the others after getting you to safety. In the meantime, gunshots were fired at us. We managed to take her safely to Sudha Sadan,” Maya said.

Afterwards, Hasina asked her aides to see what was happening at the party office but they could initially go only as far as Dhaka Club, according to Maya.

When they eventually went to the party office a little later, they were faced with the horrific scene of wounded people writhing in pain with blood scattered everywhere.

Amid the crisis, police began to charge batons and lob tear-gas shells. The Awami League leaders and activists who were unscathed by the blasts, were trying to take the injured to the hospital on 15 to 20 rickshaw vans, Maya recalled.

The Fire Service sprayed water at the scene, only to wipe out signs of the grisly attack, according to him.

Police lobbed tear-gas shells and opened fire when the leaders and activists returned to the scene to stage small processions in protest against the attack.

“At one point, we saw eight to 10 vehicles of the Fire Service were spraying water. The GPO area was knee-deep in water. The water, mixed with the blood of our leaders and activists, had turned red. It was mainly to wash away and destroy signs of the incident."

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, the then prime minister, was involved in the attack, Maya alleged.

“The signs were washed away and tear-gas shells were thrown as the government patronised the assassins. They helped the assassins flee the scene. Lutfozzaman Babar was the state minister for home, while Khaleda Zia was in charge of the home ministry. She knew about the incident beforehand.”

The blasts killed at least 16 people died at the scene. Ivy Rahman, the wife of former president Zillur Rahman, died on Aug 24 after a 58-hour battle for her life. Hanif, succumbed to his injuries after one and a half years. In total, 24 people died in the attack.

Hasina’s security team member Lance Corporal (retd) Mahbubur Rashid was also among the casualties.

Police filed a case over the incident. The case was later transferred to the CID.

Fourteen years after the incident in October 2018, Judge Shahed Nuruddin sentenced Lutfozzaman Babar, Abdus Salam Pintu and 17 others to death for their roles in the grenade attack.

Tarique Rahman, the son of BNP chief Khaleda Zia, who has been living in the UK for the last 10 years, was also sentenced to life imprisonment.

The paper book for the Aug 21 grenade attack case reached the Supreme Court on Aug 16.