UNB :
‘I’m still bearing 7 splinters in my legs; I have to live with this torment’
Although 16 years have elapsed since the August 21 grenade attack, the long wait of Umme Kulsum Renu, a survivor of the grisly attack, to see the punishment of the attacker is not over yet.
Renu, vice-president of Dhaka (South) City unit Mohila Awami League and secretary of Women Affairs of Nokla upazila unit Awami League who suffered splinter injuries and is still bearing the pain, wishes to die after seeing the execution of the verdict in the case.
Talking to UNB, Renu, a resident of Dhanhati in Nokla upazila of Sherpur district, said: “I’ve been suffering from splinter injuries. Sometimes I have to endure severe headaches and unbearable pain. Still, I can’t move properly. Somehow I’ve been dragging on my life with physiotherapy.”
“The verdict in the grenade attack case has been delivered and I’m eagerly waiting for the execution of the verdict. I want to see it before I die,” Renu said.
“I was an activist of the Dhaka South City unit Mohila Awami League. Ivy Rahman, who died in the grenade attack, loved me very much,” she recalled.
Renu said she was given Tk 20 lakh in the form of FDR on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She set an example by donating the interest of the FDR money to the deputy commissioner’s coronavirus prevention assistance fund recently.
Recalling the August 21 grenade attack, Renu said: “It was a horrific incident. I was sitting near the podium. Suddenly, a big bang was heard while smoke covered the area. Screams of people were all around. My eyes were burning and then I fainted. I was in a coma and regained consciousness after 14 days of the incident and found myself at a hospital in Dhanmondi. I suffered splinter injuries in my head and legs.”
“After surgeries, I had been at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Savar for eight months. Still, I’m bearing seven splinters in my legs. I have to live with this torment,” she said.
Renu expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and prayed for salvation of the departed souls of those killed in the grenade attack.
The nation yesterday (Friday) observed the 16th anniversary of the August 21 grenade attack.
On this day in 2004, a grisly attack was carried out on an anti-terrorism rally of Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue when the BNP-Jamaat alliance was in power. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – then opposition leader – was the main target.
At least 24 leaders and activists, including Awami League women affairs secretary and late President Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, were killed and 300 others injured. Hasina narrowly escaped the attack but her hearing was badly impaired.
A Dhaka court on October 10, 2018, sentenced 19 people, including the then BNP-led government’s state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar to death. Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and 18 others were also sentenced to life in prison.
‘I’m still bearing 7 splinters in my legs; I have to live with this torment’
Although 16 years have elapsed since the August 21 grenade attack, the long wait of Umme Kulsum Renu, a survivor of the grisly attack, to see the punishment of the attacker is not over yet.
Renu, vice-president of Dhaka (South) City unit Mohila Awami League and secretary of Women Affairs of Nokla upazila unit Awami League who suffered splinter injuries and is still bearing the pain, wishes to die after seeing the execution of the verdict in the case.
Talking to UNB, Renu, a resident of Dhanhati in Nokla upazila of Sherpur district, said: “I’ve been suffering from splinter injuries. Sometimes I have to endure severe headaches and unbearable pain. Still, I can’t move properly. Somehow I’ve been dragging on my life with physiotherapy.”
“The verdict in the grenade attack case has been delivered and I’m eagerly waiting for the execution of the verdict. I want to see it before I die,” Renu said.
“I was an activist of the Dhaka South City unit Mohila Awami League. Ivy Rahman, who died in the grenade attack, loved me very much,” she recalled.
Renu said she was given Tk 20 lakh in the form of FDR on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She set an example by donating the interest of the FDR money to the deputy commissioner’s coronavirus prevention assistance fund recently.
Recalling the August 21 grenade attack, Renu said: “It was a horrific incident. I was sitting near the podium. Suddenly, a big bang was heard while smoke covered the area. Screams of people were all around. My eyes were burning and then I fainted. I was in a coma and regained consciousness after 14 days of the incident and found myself at a hospital in Dhanmondi. I suffered splinter injuries in my head and legs.”
“After surgeries, I had been at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Savar for eight months. Still, I’m bearing seven splinters in my legs. I have to live with this torment,” she said.
Renu expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and prayed for salvation of the departed souls of those killed in the grenade attack.
The nation yesterday (Friday) observed the 16th anniversary of the August 21 grenade attack.
On this day in 2004, a grisly attack was carried out on an anti-terrorism rally of Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue when the BNP-Jamaat alliance was in power. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – then opposition leader – was the main target.
At least 24 leaders and activists, including Awami League women affairs secretary and late President Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, were killed and 300 others injured. Hasina narrowly escaped the attack but her hearing was badly impaired.
A Dhaka court on October 10, 2018, sentenced 19 people, including the then BNP-led government’s state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar to death. Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and 18 others were also sentenced to life in prison.
