SM Mizanur Rahman :
Today is the 11th anniversary of the horrific grenade attack on an anti-terrorism public rally of Awami League in the city which was apparently carried out to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then leader of the opposition in Parliament.
The grisly carnage was carried out on the AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21 in 2004 during the rule of BNP-Jamaat alliance government aiming to eliminate the AL leadership.
Incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other front ranking party leaders, however, escaped the carnage narrowly. But 24 other leaders and workers, including late president Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, were killed and over 500 others suffered splinter injuries in the attack and many of them became crippled for life.
AL leaders, including the then mayor of Dhaka City Corporation late Mohammad Hanif and the personal security squad of leader of the opposition Sheikh Hasina saved their party president forming a human shield.
As the ruling Awami League and its associate bodies and are set to recall with a heavy heart the savage of August 21 grenade attack paying deep homage to the martyrs of the carnage today (Friday), the prosecution side expressed the hope to complete its trial by December next. Marking the grenade attack anniversary, the ruling AL, its associate bodies and its left-leaning allies, and other political parties, socio-cultural and professional organisations will place wreaths at the temporary memorial erected at the spot of the occurrence at Bangabandhu Avenue at 4:00pm paying deep homage to the martyrs.
The programme will be followed by discussion meetings, and milad and doa mahfils. Awai Juba League and Juba Mahila League will organise discussions to mark the day.
Many survivors still suffer from various physical and mental complications. With around 200 splinters inside his body, Mohammad Mukti Mamun, a survivor and Jubo League leader from city’s Bashabo area, cannot walk for a few minutes. The excruciating pain stops him.
Like Mukti Mamun, Matin, hailing from Borguna, was partially paralysed after the grenade attack. One of the many splinters he carries in his body today had entered his head and left the right side of his body inactive.
After the grisly carnage the then BNP-led-18 party alliance government had made a Joj Miah drama to divert the incident.
Talking to The New Nation on Tuesday Public Prosecutor Advocate Mosharraf Hossain Kazol, who has been dealing the grenade attack case, said the trial of August 21 grenade attack case would be completed by December this year.
“We need more four and a half months to complete the trials. And we hope that we will be able to complete the case within this current year as 176 prosecution witnesses out of 491 testified after giving depositions to the court and deposition of maximum 40 more witnesses will be taken,” he said.
Kajol said 19 charge-sheeted accused out of 52, including Tarique Rahman, BNP senior vice-chairman and elder son of BNP Chairperson and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, are still at large.
“Some 26 other accused, including Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babor and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu are in jail and eight others, including three former inspector generals of police (IGPs), are on bail,” said the Public Prosecutor.
When asked about the delay in the trial process, he said, the main cause of the delay is the movement of the accused outside Dhaka as some of the accused in the cases were also accused in other criminal cases. “The existing court where the case is now being conducted is too small to deal with such a case, as the state and defense counsels alongside with the accused in the cases used to seat together,” Kazol said.
“We have already forwarded to the concerned authorities a set of proposals, including fixation of three permanent dates, for hearing of the grenade attack cases on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and shift those to a temporary court set up at Bakshibazar, for quick disposal of its trial,” he said.
Two separate cases were lodged — one for murder and the other under explosive act — were filed to this end.
Meanwhile, South Africa on Wednesday agreed to send back Maulana Mohammad Tajuddin, a key accused in the August 21 grenade attack cases, to Bangladesh.
The development took place at a meeting held between the visiting South African delegation led by its Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Momaindya Mfeketo and Bangladesh’s Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Wednesday.
“South Africa has agreed to send back Maulana Tajuddin to Bangladesh and for this they want to sign an extradition treaty with us,” the home boss told journalists adding, they have exchanged information and other documents for the next course of measure to this end.
Earlier on August 19 in 2014, the Interpol informed Bangladesh police that Maulana Tajuddin was now staying in South Africa. The Interpol has also issued a red alert against Maulana Tajuddin as the most wanted criminal.
The key accused in the cases, BNP senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman, now living in London, was also wanted by the International Police Organization.
Besides, Maulana Tajuddin’s brother detained former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu is also an accused in the August 21 grenade attack cases.
With Tajuddin, a leader of the banned Islamist outfit Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), a total of 19 charge-sheeted accused out of 52 in the cases went into hiding soon after investigation into the matter was initiated.
Of the 19 fugitive accused, Tarique Rahman is now staying in London and Harris Chowdhury in Assam of India. Among others, Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad is living in Bangkok, owner of Hanif Enterprise Mohammad Hanif in Kolkata, Maj Gen (retd) ATM Amin in America, Lt Col (retd) Saiful Islam Joarder in Canada, Babu alias Ratul Babu in India, Anisul Morsalin and his brother Mohibul Muttakin in an Indian jail, intelligence sources said.
Militant leaders Shafikur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Maulana Abu Bakar, Iqbal, Khalilur Rahman, Jahangir Alam alias Badar, Maulana Liton alias Zobair alias Delwar and Maulana Tajul Islam, the then Deputy Commissioner (East) and Deputy Commissioner (South) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Md Obaidur Rahman and Khan Syed Hasan are also staying abroad, the sources said, adding most of them are now in Pakistan.
Of the fugitive accused, Maulana Tajuddin and Babu are brothers of the detained former deputy minister of the BNP government Abdus Salam Pintu, who is also a charge sheeted accused in the August 21 grenade attack case.
