Survivors want death for perpetrators

Thirteen years after the grenade attack on a rally of the then opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, the survivors are still trying to come to terms with the incident. As many as 24 people, including the then Awami League woman affairs secretary, Ivy Rahman, were killed and hundreds were seriously injured in the attack on August 21, 2004. The mayhem had marked a new low in the political history of Bangladesh after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members on August 15, 1975.

Recalling the grenade attack, the survivors and bereaved family members demanded capital punishment for the perpetrators. Many of them complained that their lives had turned miserable because they couldn’t afford the treatment costs even though they had received some monetary help from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

They demanded that the government must take special care of the survivors to ensure their treatment and means to make a livelihood.

“I am just a living corpse now,” said 38-year-old Mahbuba Parvin. She had suffered around 1,800 splinter wounds after the grenade burst beside her at the rally.

Mahbuba, who is living at Savar, said she now found it difficult to arrange for money or go to the hospital for treatment after the death of her husband last Novemeber.

The ill-fated woman said though she had received monetary help from the Prime Minister, she now needed more assistance to build a home and continue with her treatment.

Mahbuba, who was the former woman affairs secretary of Secchasebok League’s Dhaka district unit, said no ruling party leader has bothered to enquire after her wellbeing.

She demanded capital punishment for the attackers and the masterminds.

Echoing the sentiment, Tonima Rahman Moyna, younger daughter of Ivy Rahman, said her only wish was to see the perpetrators hanged so that “nobody could dare to carry out such heinous incidents in future”. “It was a pre-planned attack. If the perpetrators are given capital punishment, my mother’s soul would get peace,” she added.

Survivors want death for perpetrators

Thirteen years after the grenade attack on a rally of the then opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, the survivors are still trying to come to terms with the incident. As many as 24 people, including the then Awami League woman affairs secretary, Ivy Rahman, were killed and hundreds were seriously injured in the attack on August 21, 2004. The mayhem had marked a new low in the political history of Bangladesh after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members on August 15, 1975. Recalling the grenade attack, the survivors and bereaved family members demanded capital punishment for the perpetrators. Many of them complained that their lives had turned miserable because they couldnt afford the treatment costs even though they had received some monetary help from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. They demanded that the government must take special care of the survivors to ensure their treatment and means to make a livelihood. I am just a living corpse now, said 38-year-old Mahbuba Parvin. She had suffered around 1,800 splinter wounds after the grenade burst beside her at the rally. Mahbuba, who is living at Savar, said she now found it difficult to arrange for money or go to the hospital for treatment after the death of her husband last Novemeber. The ill-fated woman said though she had received monetary help from the Prime Minister, she now needed more assistance to build a home and continue with her treatment. Mahbuba, who was the former woman affairs secretary of Secchasebok Leagues Dhaka district unit, said no ruling party leader has bothered to enquire after her wellbeing. She demanded capital punishment for the attackers and the masterminds. Echoing the sentiment, Tonima Rahman Moyna, younger daughter of Ivy Rahman, said her only wish was to see the perpetrators hanged so that nobody could dare to carry out such heinous incidents in future. It was a pre-planned attack. If the perpetrators are given capital punishment, my mothers soul would get peace, she added.