A life haunted by assassins all along

Assassins were always active for decades to kill her in the long orchestrated conspiracy to eliminate the secular force from Bangladesh.

The heinous conspiracy that began with the brutal murder of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 has continued to catch his daughter Sheikh Hasina who launched the Herculean task to bring back Bangladesh on track after her return to home from exile a few years after Bangabandhu's assassination. She has been the symbol of the secular forces against the anti-Liberation forces that got upper hand and ruled the country after the 1975 bloody changeover.

There have been as many as 19 murder attempts on Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, which is quite unprecedented in the annals of global politics. The number of assassination attempts she has survived places her among a few world leaders in modern history who survived such attacks.

The biggest ever plot was executed on 21 August 2004 under direct patronisation of the then BNP-Jamaat-led regime. She narrowly escaped the attack thanks to her party's leaders who saved her by building a human wall against the grenades raining down on her rally on Bangabandhu Avenue.

Of the assassination bids, there are available information about 14 cases while verdicts have been pronounced in three cases.

Many murder attempts went unreported to police as Awami League leaders and activists were sued in some cases.

There were two assassination attempts during the rule of Hussain Muhammad Ershad, four during the 1991-1996 BNP rule, four during the Awami League tenure in 1996-2001, four during the BNP-Jamaat government in 2001-2006, one during the military-backed caretaker government and four reported assassination attempts during the current tenure of Awami League.

Police filed a case against some leaders of Awami League for an assassination bid that took place during the BNP-Jamaat government. Later the party men were acquitted of the charge citing "no evidence was found" during the tenure of the same government.   

In another murder attempt case during the BNP-Jamaat government, police gave the final report stating "no evidence was found", but the plaintiff refused the report as the investigation is still ongoing.

So far, 60 Awami League leaders and activists have been killed in the attacks on Sheikh Hasina while several thousands were injured.

1988 Laldighi massacre

During the Ershad-regime, a public rally of the eight-party alliance was to be held on 24 January 1988 at Laldighi Maidan in Chattogram. An armed attack was carried on the motorcade of Sheikh Hasina while she was going to the spot from Chattogram airport.  

The motorcade came under the attack adjacent to Chattogram court building as police opened fire indiscriminately leaving 24 people dead. Of the deceased, nine party men were killed as they tried to save Sheikh Hasina by forming a human shield around her.

According to widespread allegations, some bodies of the victims were cremated at Abhaymitra crematorium in Chattogram to cover up the fatalities.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mirza Rakibul Huda, who ordered the shooting, was charged in a genocide case. But the police officer was rewarded with a promotion in 1991 after the BNP government came to power.

1989 attack on Dhanmondi residence

On 10 August 1989, two Freedom Party armed men carried out an attack on the residence of Sheikh Hasina at Dhanmondi 32. They fired shots and hurled grenades at the residence to assassinate the Awami League chief.

Subsequently, police Constable Zahirul Islam, who was in charge of Sheikh Hasina's security, filed a case.

On 20 February 1997, a chargesheet was filed against 16 people after seven and a half years of the murder attempt. The trial began on 5 July 2009 by the charge framing against the accused.

The testimony in the case came to the final stage in 2014. The case is currently pending with a Dhaka court.

1991 Green Road firing

On 11 September 1991, gunshots were fired at Sheikh Hasina while she was visiting a polling station on Green Road in Dhaka's Dhanmondi during the by-elections of the Fourth Parliament. She narrowly escaped the shooting though bullets hit her car.

A case filed over the incident has not been disposed of in the last 26 years. Prosecutors could not provide the case details either, saying the case was pending.

1994 Ishwardi rail attack

On 23 September 1994, multiple gunshots were fired aiming at the rail coach Sheikh Hasina was in. The incident took place at Ishwardi railway station in Pabna as she was travelling across Bangladesh to garner movements for national election under a caretaker government.  

Numerous shots were fired at her coach, but Sheikh Hasina remained unharmed as the bullets missed the target.

A case was filed at Ishwardi police station at that time accusing 130-135 people. Later, police filed a chargesheet against 35 people who mostly were local BNP leaders and activists. All the accused are now on bail.

1995 attack on Russel Square rally

Sheikh Hasina was attacked on 7 March 1995 while addressing a rally at Sheikh RusselSquare in Dhaka. Awami League leaders and activists swiftly moved her to safety.

Prosecutor Abdullah Abu said the case argument is now going on.

1996 Bangabandhu Avenue attack

On 7 March 1996, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was addressing a rally on Bangabandhu Avenue. Suddenly, gunshots were fired and bombs were hurled at her from a microbus.

At least 20 people were injured in the attack. Prosecutors say the case is also pending.

1999 bounty

In 1999, mails announcing a bounty on Sheikh Hasina and 31 of her family members came in spotlight. Some Shoaib Chowdhury, the owner of Inter Asia TV, was the sender of the e-mails.

No information is available about the trial of the assassination attempt case that was filed subsequently.

76 kg bomb planted in Kotalipara

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was scheduled to hold a rally on 22 July 2000 on a local college ground in Gopalganj'sKotalipara. Terrorists planted two powerful bombs to assassinate the prime minister at the rally.

On 20 July 2000, army explosives experts recovered the bombs weighing 76 kg and 40 kg adjacent to the ground.

Militants devised the bombs at a local soap factory, and those were carried to the spot on 19 July that year.

Fourteen militants were sentenced to death in verdicts of two cases that were filed over the assassination attempt.     

Rupsha bomb plot

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was scheduled to inaugurate the Rupsha Bridge in Khulna on 30 May 2001. Militants planted a bomb at the inauguration site. However, detectives foiled the killing plot and recovered the explosive.    

Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI,B) Bangladesh had planned the murder plot since the previous Kotalipara attempt was thwarted. This case is also yet to be disposed of.       

2001 Sylhet blast

On 25 September 2001, during the caretaker government, Sheikh Hasina went to Sylhet to hold a political rally. By planting a bomb there, HuJI,B planned to assassinate her.

But the plan got foiled as two militants were killed in an accidental blast near the rally. Police later arrested two other militants, while the trial in the case is still ongoing.

Naogaon attack

On 4 March 2002, the motorcade of the then leader of the opposition and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina came under an attack in front of the BMC Women's College in Naogaon.

The Awami League then blamed the BNP's youth wing Bangladesh JatiotabadiJubo Dal for the incident. But the investigation could not make headway during the BNP-Jamaat government.  

Satkhira attack

On 26 August 2002, the wife of a Satkhira freedom fighter was raped. The victim was then admitted to Satkhira hospital. After receiving the news, the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina paid a visit to her in Satkhira on 30 August.

While returning, Sheikh Hasina's motorcade came under armed attack. Some of her entourage were injured in the assault. A court sentenced 18 people last year after the trial in the case.

Barisal attack  

On 2 April in 2002 during the BNP-Jamaat government, miscreants opened fire on Sheikh Hasina's convoy at Gournadi in Barisal. Instead of filing a case against the people who carried out the attack, vandalised vehicles and ransacked Gournadi bus stand, police lodged a lawsuit against the central and local leaders of Awami League.

21 August grenade attack

The 2004 grenade attack took place at a rally in front of the Awami League's central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka. The attack left 24 dead and more than 300 injured.

Although Sheikh Hasina narrowly survived the assassination bid, her hearing got damaged.

In the grenade attack case verdict, 19 people including BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, party leader Harish Chowdhury and former MP Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad were awarded life imprisonment.   

The court sentenced 19 people, including former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death. However, out of the 19 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment, 13 are still on the run.

Attempted murder by poisoning

A murder attempt was carried out on Sheikh Hasina by poisoning her meal while the Awami League chief was in jail in 2006.  

Awami League leaders complained at various occasions that her eyes and face became swollen and she fell ill after eating the poisoned food.

At a discussion on 26 June 2009 in the capital, top Awami League leader SyedaSajeda Chowdhury alleged female prison guards revealed the assassination plot to Sheikh Hasina. After that, Sheikh Hasina used to eat only dry food in the jail.

She was released on parole on 11 June 2008 after 11 months behind bars.

Sri Lankan hitmen hired

In 2011, an international group and some Pakistani citizens made a contract with a terrorist group in Sri Lanka and formed a suicide squad to assassinate Sheikh Hasina.

The hitmen got paid in advance too. The plot got foiled as the team of the assassins was killed in a road accident on the way to Kolkata airport.

Bangabandhu killers active too

Some 16 retired and active members of the Bangladesh Army along with the fugitive killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman planned a coup and assassination of Sheikh Hasina, according to a classified message revealed by WikiLeaks.  

The leak suggests Israk Ahmed, a Bangladeshi businessman living in Hong Kong, financed the plot.

Suicide attack plot  

In late 2014, a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was hatched by trained female militants.

Led by 13 militant couples, 150 women and 150 youths received special training for the execution of the plan.

However, the conspiracy was exposed when an explosion took place in Burdwan, West Bengal as the training was going on.

JMB was also active

Members of banned militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) attempted to bomb Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's convoy in Dhaka's Karwanbazar area on 8 March 2015.

The prime minister was on her way to attend a political rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on that day. The militants detonated several bombs, but the plot was eventually foiled too.

Rezaul Karim