No BNP hand in August 21 attack: Nazrul

The BNP was not involved in any way in the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004, said Nazrul Islam, the party’s standing committee member. At least 23 people including Awami League Women’s Affairs Secretary Ivy Rahman  were killed and hundreds of others including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was then the Leader of the Opposition, were injured when 13 or more grenades were hurled at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on August 21, 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat government’s tenure. “Forcibly the liability of the attack is being inflicted on our party. There is political motive behind the allegations,” alleged BNP leader Nazrul Islam yesterday while talking to reporters after placing wreaths at the grave of BNP founder and late president Ziaur Rahman, marking the release of BNP Chairperson’s adviser Shamsuzzaman Dudu.
UNB adds: Describing the August-21 grenade attack as a dreadful terror act, the BNP standing committee member demanded a fair trial of the perpetrators of the heinous attack.  “The August-21 grenade attack is a horrible and terror act. We want to clearly state that the real offenders be tried through a fair and neutral probe, no matter who they are,” the BNP leader said.
When asked to comment over the allegation of the ruling Awami League about BNP’s involvement in the August 21 attack, Nazrul said they have repeatedly made its position clear that their party had no hand in it. “We think they (AL) are brining allegation against us due to political reason.”
“We want to equivocally say that BNP do nationalist and democratic politics and there is no room for terrorism in it. So, BNP has no link to the politics of killing and terrorism,” he added. Refuting AL’s allegation, the BNP policymaker said, “People do not believe in such accusation. This matters little what they (AL) says as they brand Ziaur Rahman, who proclaimed the country’s Liberation War, as a Pakistani agent and they also call Kader Siddiqui a Razakar.”
BNP is a pro-Liberation War party, Nazrul said, adding that it doesn’t believe in politics of political vengeance. “We’re the representative of the nationalist and democratic forces.” Relying to a question regarding the arrest of three pro-BNP lawyers for allegedly financing militants, he said has no idea about it. “The government is carrying out propaganda to give an impression that BNP patronises militancy and terrorism, but the country’s people know it very that it’s not true. This government move is unjust and vengeful.” Nazrul came down hard on the government saying it is trying to subdue the opposition through its repressive acts and keeping senior BNP leaders in jail in ‘false’ cases. “This current situation must be changed and a pro-people government is a must,” he added. The BNP leader said the government came to power without people’s mandate depriving them of their voting rights. They are on a movement to restore people’s voting rights and establish a pro-people government, he added.

No BNP hand in August 21 attack: Nazrul

The BNP was not involved in any way in the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004, said Nazrul Islam, the partys standing committee member. At least 23 people including Awami League Womens Affairs Secretary Ivy Rahman were killed and hundreds of others including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was then the Leader of the Opposition, were injured when 13 or more grenades were hurled at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on August 21, 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat governments tenure. Forcibly the liability of the attack is being inflicted on our party. There is political motive behind the allegations, alleged BNP leader Nazrul Islam yesterday while talking to reporters after placing wreaths at the grave of BNP founder and late president Ziaur Rahman, marking the release of BNP Chairpersons adviser Shamsuzzaman Dudu. UNB adds: Describing the August-21 grenade attack as a dreadful terror act, the BNP standing committee member demanded a fair trial of the perpetrators of the heinous attack. The August-21 grenade attack is a horrible and terror act. We want to clearly state that the real offenders be tried through a fair and neutral probe, no matter who they are, the BNP leader said. When asked to comment over the allegation of the ruling Awami League about BNPs involvement in the August 21 attack, Nazrul said they have repeatedly made its position clear that their party had no hand in it. We think they (AL) are brining allegation against us due to political reason. We want to equivocally say that BNP do nationalist and democratic politics and there is no room for terrorism in it. So, BNP has no link to the politics of killing and terrorism, he added. Refuting ALs allegation, the BNP policymaker said, People do not believe in such accusation. This matters little what they (AL) says as they brand Ziaur Rahman, who proclaimed the countrys Liberation War, as a Pakistani agent and they also call Kader Siddiqui a Razakar. BNP is a pro-Liberation War party, Nazrul said, adding that it doesnt believe in politics of political vengeance. Were the representative of the nationalist and democratic forces. Relying to a question regarding the arrest of three pro-BNP lawyers for allegedly financing militants, he said has no idea about it. The government is carrying out propaganda to give an impression that BNP patronises militancy and terrorism, but the countrys people know it very that its not true. This government move is unjust and vengeful. Nazrul came down hard on the government saying it is trying to subdue the opposition through its repressive acts and keeping senior BNP leaders in jail in false cases. This current situation must be changed and a pro-people government is a must, he added. The BNP leader said the government came to power without peoples mandate depriving them of their voting rights. They are on a movement to restore peoples voting rights and establish a pro-people government, he added.