Death and blood all around 
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
February 04, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2023
Death and blood all around 

August 21st

Dr. Shameem Mahmud
21 August, 2019, 04:00 pm
Last modified: 21 August, 2020, 05:39 pm

Related News

  • 21 August: Where are the key perpetrators now
  • PM recalls Ivy Rahman’s contributions to all democratic movements
  • PM describes Zia as 'real villain' of 1975 carnage
  • A year of toils and exhilaration for tbsnews.net
  • 16th anniversary of Aug 21 grenade attacks tomorrow

Death and blood all around 

Within a few minutes of the explosions, the police began to throw tear shells on the rally premises and one got inside the store.

Dr. Shameem Mahmud
21 August, 2019, 04:00 pm
Last modified: 21 August, 2020, 05:39 pm
People helping the victims after the grenade attack of August 21. Photo: Shamsul Hoque Tanku
People helping the victims after the grenade attack of August 21. Photo: Shamsul Hoque Tanku

On that fateful day, I was assigned to cover the Awami League rally. When I reached Bangabandhu Avenue, the area was swarmed with thousands of activists and leaders who came to attend the rally. I met my fellow journalist, Dulal Bhai, at the entrance to the AL office. We entered a departmental store which was right beside the party office and began to take notes.  

Back then, shop owners in Dhaka always used to be on high alert in terms of political programmes as violence and clashes were almost regular. The moment they heard a noise or a clamour, they immediately closed the shutters. Those were volatile times.

We were almost done with taking notes and we could hear Sheikh Hasina end her speech with "Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu". But as soon as she was done, a grenade exploded almost two yards from the makeshift stage on a truck where she was standing.

With the first sound of the explosion, the owner rolled the shutter down. Although I was a bit baffled but I remained calm inside the store. I had been covering political news for quite some time and was used to such sudden violence. But never in my wildest dreams did I think that the grenades would kill so many people. 

Within the next minute and a half, a shower of grenades exploded. A total of 13 explosions ripped through the rally premises that day. When the larger grenades began to explode, we were sure by then that something apocalyptic was on the run outside.

Traumatised inside the store, we all summed up that the attacks were on Sheikh Hasina. But we just could not imagine the magnitude of the level of barbarism by then. 

Within a few minutes of the explosions, the police began to throw tear shells on the rally premises and one got inside the store. The pungent air made it difficult for us to breathe so we got out, and for the first time, I took a look at the premises. 

I was not ready to see what I saw on Bangabandhu Avenue that day. I saw death and blood. At the same time, I smelled the rotten political culture of a nation where oppositions can get annihilated. I saw the corpse of democratic values on Bangabandhu Avenue that day. 

Sheikh Hasina was lucky to survive as her party men had built a human shield around her. Fortunately, the grenades exploded on each side of the truck. She was safely escorted out of the rally. The chief of her security personnel had sacrificed his life to save Sheikha Hasina on that day. Many Awami League leaders including Suranjit Sengupta, Kazi Zafarullah, Abdur Razzak, Rahmatullah and Obaidul Quader were injured. 

I was very close to the spot where the women party leaders were attacked. Many journalists suffered the consequences of that ghastly grenade attack. I consider myself lucky to have survived the atrocity. 

My wife was expecting our first child at that time. My daughter is now 14. I sometimes get traumatised with the very thought of the day that could have obliterated everything. I still shudder at the thought of my own death, something that could have happened that day.

Dr. Shameem Mahmud is a former journalist. He is currently an Adjunct Faculty at Hamburg University, Germany. 

August 21

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Is the IMF to blame for growing pressure on your wallet?
    Is the IMF to blame for growing pressure on your wallet?
  • Dr Salehuddin Ahmed. Illustration: TBS
    Reforms in banking must to sustain financial sector
  • Why 2012 reforms were not done is a million-dollar question
    Why 2012 reforms were not done is a million-dollar question

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Reuters
    Dollar drops as risk appetite improves after Fed minutes
  • Photo: PMO Press Wing
    PM Hasina blames BNP-Jamaat govt for 21 August carnage
  • Photo: PMO Press Wing
    Sheikh Hasina pays tribute to 21 Aug grenade attack victims
  • FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Tami Chappell/File Photo
    CDC advisers back Covid booster shots for those 65 and older, not for high-risk workers
  • Sheikh Hasina was saved by a human-shield, formed by the senior leaders of Awami league during August 21 grenade attack  in 2004. Photo: Shamsul Hoque Tanku
    August 21 grenade attack: Living in agony, with trauma
  • Victims were seen lying on the ground after the August 21 grenade attack in 2004. Photo- Roton Gomes.
    The day Bangladesh’s politics changed forever

Related News

  • 21 August: Where are the key perpetrators now
  • PM recalls Ivy Rahman’s contributions to all democratic movements
  • PM describes Zia as 'real villain' of 1975 carnage
  • A year of toils and exhilaration for tbsnews.net
  • 16th anniversary of Aug 21 grenade attacks tomorrow

Features

Andy Mukherjee. Sketch: TBS

What makes India's billionaires' support special for Adani

17h | Panorama
Photo: Rejaul Hafiz Rahi

A jackal farewell

18h | Earth
The trio spearheading the revival of book cover designs

The trio spearheading the revival of book cover designs

19h | Panorama
Six Jeep Wranglers and a special XJ Jeep Cherokee set out into the depths of Lalakhal, Sylhet for an experience of a lifetime. Photo: Ahbaar Mohammad

Jeep Life Bangladesh: A club for Jeep owners to harness the power of their vehicles

1d | Wheels

More Videos from TBS

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

1d | TBS Round Table
Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

1d | TBS Entertainment
Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

1d | TBS Current Affairs
What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

1d | TBS Stories

Most Read

1
Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!
Bangladesh

Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!

2
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

3
Photo: Collected
Energy

8 Ctg power plants out of production

4
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

5
Photo: Collected
Court

Japanese mother gets guardianship of daughters, free to leave country

6
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]