Aug 21 attack wouldn't have been possible without then govt's patronage: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said it was not possible to carry out an attack like that of 21 August 2004 had there been no direct patronage from the then BNP-Jamaat government.

"They (BNP-Jamaat govt) thought that I had been killed (in the grenade attack), but when they came to know that I didn't die they allowed four criminals to flee the country," she said.

She said the then BNP-Jamaat government assembled the terrorists and militants for carrying out such an attack and gave them a safe passage to flee abroad.

Sheikh Hasina made the allegation while addressing a discussion marking the 21 August 2004 grenade attack. 

Awami League organised the event at its Bangabandhu Avenue central office which was virtually attended by the premiere from her official residence Ganobhaban.

"No one dared to dream that there would be grenade attack (on the rally) attempting to kill in broad daylight," she said.

Recalling the barbaric carnage, Sheikh Hasina alleged that then-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her government staged the grenade attack as killings are their habit.

She said that Bangabandhu killers Faruq and Rashid were among those criminals while the other two were militant Tajul and one jailer.

After the attack, she said, police lobbed tear gas shells and charged batons on AL leaders and workers instead of rescuing the victims.

Hasina said even BNP-Jamaat-backed doctors did not attend the injured AL leaders and activists at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and no patient was allowed to enter Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Medical University.