Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday vowed not to leave the path of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, though she had to face death several times in the past.
"I've continued working with the spirit of War of Independence to fulfil Bangabandhu's dreams despite several attempts to kill me," she said.
She said, "I'm working so that Bangladesh doesn't fall in the hands of any unconstitutional and undemocratic power."
Hasina made the promise after placing wreaths at a makeshift memorial at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the grisly grenade attack on an Awami League rally.
On Aug 21 in 2004, at least 24 people, including President Zillur Rahman's wife and senior politician Ivy Rahman, were killed in the blasts in front of the Awami League central office and some 200 others were injured.
Investigations found Sheikh Hasina, then the opposition chief, was the prime target of the attack, but survived with permanent hearing impairment. Her bodyguards and several senior party members formed a human wall to save and escort her to the car. Rapid brushfire riddled the bulletproof car as it sped off.
The chargesheet in the case filed over the blasts said the Aug 21 attack was planned after several attempts to kill her had failed.
BNP Chairman Khaleda Zia's elder son and party's Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary-General and then Social Welfare Minister Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, and former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar were also charged in the case along with others.
Remembering those who perished in the attack, Hasina on Tuesday held the then BNP-Jamaat alliance government responsible for the incident.
She said, "We had planned to stage a demonstration at Mukgtangon to protest an attack on the British High-Commissioner. We didn't get the permission. But then again, the permission was given late in the night."
"We had cancelled the programme. But why the permission was given?"
Hasina, also the Awami League President, continued, "Thirteen grenades blasted one by one right after I finished my speech. Those who threw the grenades had left the scene, but police shot teargas shells and charged baton on those trying to rescue the dead and injured."
She also claimed that evidences found at the scene of crime were also destroyed.
"I promise you, trials of the conspirators will be held in this land," she said promising that justice for all killings including the grenade attack would be served.
Hasina placed wreaths on the memorial at Bangabandhu Avenue at 11am as the Prime Minister and then placed another wreath as the party's President along with other Awami League leaders.
She also talked to the family members of those injured in the attack and enquired about their wellbeing.
Awami League Advisory Council member Amir Hossain Amu, General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haque Inu, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon, and Samyabadi Dal General Secretary and Industries Minister Dilip Barua, also spoke on the occasion.
Syed Ashraful Islam said, "Those who run newspapers with funding from ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam), land grabbers, and people who don't believe in the spirit of the Liberation War, have united to thwart democracy."
He also asked everyone to be united to stand against those who were conspiring to foil democracy in the country.
"I've continued working with the spirit of War of Independence to fulfil Bangabandhu's dreams despite several attempts to kill me," she said.
She said, "I'm working so that Bangladesh doesn't fall in the hands of any unconstitutional and undemocratic power."
Hasina made the promise after placing wreaths at a makeshift memorial at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the grisly grenade attack on an Awami League rally.
On Aug 21 in 2004, at least 24 people, including President Zillur Rahman's wife and senior politician Ivy Rahman, were killed in the blasts in front of the Awami League central office and some 200 others were injured.
Investigations found Sheikh Hasina, then the opposition chief, was the prime target of the attack, but survived with permanent hearing impairment. Her bodyguards and several senior party members formed a human wall to save and escort her to the car. Rapid brushfire riddled the bulletproof car as it sped off.
The chargesheet in the case filed over the blasts said the Aug 21 attack was planned after several attempts to kill her had failed.
BNP Chairman Khaleda Zia's elder son and party's Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary-General and then Social Welfare Minister Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, and former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar were also charged in the case along with others.
Remembering those who perished in the attack, Hasina on Tuesday held the then BNP-Jamaat alliance government responsible for the incident.
She said, "We had planned to stage a demonstration at Mukgtangon to protest an attack on the British High-Commissioner. We didn't get the permission. But then again, the permission was given late in the night."
"We had cancelled the programme. But why the permission was given?"
Hasina, also the Awami League President, continued, "Thirteen grenades blasted one by one right after I finished my speech. Those who threw the grenades had left the scene, but police shot teargas shells and charged baton on those trying to rescue the dead and injured."
She also claimed that evidences found at the scene of crime were also destroyed.
"I promise you, trials of the conspirators will be held in this land," she said promising that justice for all killings including the grenade attack would be served.
Hasina placed wreaths on the memorial at Bangabandhu Avenue at 11am as the Prime Minister and then placed another wreath as the party's President along with other Awami League leaders.
She also talked to the family members of those injured in the attack and enquired about their wellbeing.
Awami League Advisory Council member Amir Hossain Amu, General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haque Inu, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon, and Samyabadi Dal General Secretary and Industries Minister Dilip Barua, also spoke on the occasion.
Syed Ashraful Islam said, "Those who run newspapers with funding from ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam), land grabbers, and people who don't believe in the spirit of the Liberation War, have united to thwart democracy."
He also asked everyone to be united to stand against those who were conspiring to foil democracy in the country.
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