DHAKA, 22 August 2006 — Thousands of Bangladeshis rallied in the capital yesterday to demand an investigation into a grenade attack that killed at least 23 members of the opposition Awami League two years ago.
Unidentified attackers detonated seven grenades during an Awami rally at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Avenue on Aug. 21, 2004, soon after party chief Hasina Wajed had finished speaking.
Hasina, a former prime minister, survived the attack, but her hearing was seriously impaired. Yesterday’s rally was called to commemorate the anniversary and to make fresh demands for a credible probe. State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar told reporters late on Sunday that the investigation was continuing, but would take more time.
Hasina accused the government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia of being involved in the attack in an effort to perpetuate the rule of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Hasina, who lost her father, independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of her family members in a 1975 army coup, said the killers would be “brought to book and punished severely” if the Awami League won power in a parliamentary election due next January.
Many grieving relatives of the 2004 attack attended yesterday’s rally, holding up photographs of those who died and banners and placards demanding justice.
“I want nothing but exemplary punishment for the killers of my son,” said a tearful Fefroza Begum.
“I still suffer from pain and burning sensation as some splinters (from the grenades) are still embedded in my body,” said Shahida Akhtar Dipti, a woman hurt in the attack.
Meanwhile, 18 US Congressmen have requested the government to open a new and fully independent investigation of the attack on the Awami League in the interests of justice, preservation of democratic institutions, law and order and free and fair elections in Bangladesh.
“This was a calculated attack with enormous political implications since the entire leadership of the opposition Awami League was present at the rally,” they said in a letter to Prime Minister Khaleda.
