Turn sorrow into strength

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called upon all citizens to turn the grief of the August 21 grenade attack into strength to build a peaceful democratic Bangladesh free from terrorism and militancy.

She made the call in a message on the eve of the 12th anniversary of the brutal grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue that killed some 24 AL leaders and activists.

“My expectation on this day is that we would establish Sonar Bangla as dreamt by the Father of the Nation by eliminating militancy,” she said.

The main objective of the grenade attack was to frustrate the country's independence, democracy, peace and progress, added the PM.

Hasina said although it was the moral responsibility of the then government to bring the killers to book, the BNP-Jamaat government tried its level best to protect them.

“Investigations later revealed that many of the players belonging to the BNP-Jamaat alliance were directly involved in the attack.”

Terming August 21 a black day in the country's history, she said: “The killers carried out the barbaric attack in the broad daylight on an anti-militancy rally of Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue to kill me under the patronage of the then BNP-Jamaat alliance government.”

She hoped killing, terrorism and militancy would end in the country forever and the rule of law would be established after holding of trial of the attackers, planners and patrons.

In the last seven and a half years, the AL government has turned Bangladesh into a role model of development in all sectors, she noted.

She expressed optimism that Bangladesh would become a middle income country before 2021 and a developed and prosperous country in 2041.