Nine years after the heinous grenade attack at Ramna Batamul in the capital during Pahela Baishakh (Bangla New Year) celebrations, family members of three slain victims were found crying, remembering the untimely departure of their near and dear ones.
Talking to The Daily Star, they demanded exemplary punishment to those who were involved in the attack. The horrifying memories of the incident are still fresh in their mind.
Al-Mamun, 23, Reazul, 22, and Shilpi, 20, three cousins and college students in Baufal upazila of Patuakhali, went to Ramna Batamul together to join the Pahela Baishakh celebration but all of them were killed in the grenade attack.
They were among the 10 people who were killed in April 14, 2001 grenade attack that also left over 100 others injured.
"When Pahela Boishakh comes close every year, my pain increases as I lost my son on this day. I buried all my hopes here nine years back," said Al-Mamun's mother Nur Jahan, showing his grave.
"Can you tell me why my son was killed?" she threw the question.
“We want to know the names of masterminds behind the cowardly mayhem and see their punishment,” Kashem Gazi, father of Al-Mamun, said when this correspondent visited his house at Kachipara in Baufal upazila.
Parvin, sister-in-law of Shilpi, said she rushed to the spot immediately after hearing the news of the blast. Doctors declared all of them dead at BSMMU Hospital, said Parvin who was living in Dhaka during the time. Shilpi stayed at her house to celebrate the programme on Bangla New Year.
"I forbade my son to join any gathering but he didn't listen," said Shamsul Haq Gazi, father of Reazul.
Every year the family members arrange milad mahfil and special prayers for salvation of the departed souls. The New Year now brings tear for them instead of joy after the death of their near and dear ones, they said.