Sheikh Hasina, the deserving daughter of Bangabandhu, was first to serve as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001. She successfully led the country toward socioeconomic development maintaining a peaceful environment. However, the BNP was plotting to grab power by any means necessary. They were secretly inspired by Jamaat groups opposed to independence, and they ingeniously tampered with the election results. Those who supported the pro-independence movement, including members of the minority community, began to experience brutal and savage persecution and threats to prevent them from reporting these heinous crimes to the media or seeking justice after their government was established on October 1, 2001.

People became aware of the fact that the upcoming days would become unpleasant. The offensive by Jamaat-e-Islami absorbed the BNP, which led to a rise in militant activity. Bengalis were familiar with the names of several radical outfits like HUJI, JMB, and Bangla Bhai. The horrifying memories of the crimes in 1971 came pouring back as religious persecution increased significantly in some locations. The pro-Pakistani organisations declared their willingness to begin attacks against the sovereignty of Bangladesh by detonating bombs simultaneously in 500 spots across the country. On the other hand, employees of the BNP or Jamaat-e-Islami were not the targets of these assaults; rather, individuals who defended the spirit of freedom and strove to restore democracy were the ones who were attacked.

A horrible illustration of this is the assassination attempt on the leader of the people, Sheikh Hasina that took place on August 21, 2004, when grenades were thrown into a rally held by the Awami League. Compared to the previous administration led by the Awami League, the coalition government led by the BNP was incompetent in its management of the country. They were well aware that the public's support for them had plummeted to an all-time low due to the movement led by the then opposition Awami League to reinstate the right to vote and access to food. Sheikh Hasina served as the driving force behind this effort. As a consequence of this, the Awami League would surely prevail to a substantial degree in an election. If the Awami League were to win the election, it would mean that they would strictly carry out their stated vows to bring those responsible for the assassination of Bangabandhu and war criminals to book. As a direct result, Jamaat-e-Islami was thrown into disarray, and the BNP lost its composure and became a puppet in their hands. They had no other goal besides eliminating all of the Awami League's leaders. BNP-Jamaat came up with a plan for an attack that appeared to be carried out by terrorists. Finishing her address at Awami League rally in Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital, Sheikh Hasina proceeded to the truck's corner to use a ladder to descend. At that moment, the culprits carried out grenade attack to execute assassination plot. After each grenade went off, there was a resounding boom. There was blood wherever you looked.

The worst attack in the history of political violence in Bangladesh claimed the lives of 24 people. One of them was Ivy Rahman, the then president of Mahila Awami League. The sick side of our nation, continuously tormented by the BNP-Jamaat cycle, is depicted in the photograph of the woman's body with a mangled lower half released by news outlets. The explosion caused by the grenade on that day injured several hundred people who supported the Awami League, and their sufferings have not yet ended. One year after unsuccessful battle with the splinter, former Dhaka City Mayor Mohammad Hanif passed away. Nineteen years have elapsed since the tragedy leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of every Bengali. At the anti-terrorism march that Awami League held that day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came perilously close to losing her life in a grenade attack. She suffered a ruptured eardrum which permanently compromised her hearing. Despite the efforts to speed up the process of a proper investigation into and trial of the culprits, the ministers and MPs of the then-four-party coalition government began to speak out against the Awami League. They alleged that Awami League carried out the grenade attack to gain political support. Even judicial commission comprising Justice Zainul Abedin  declared that there was no militant group behind the incident. Instead, they believe that the explosion was carried out by the intelligence services of the large country over the border with the assistance of fugitive militants.

A man named Joj Mia from Noakhali was made to appear as the perpetrator and submit confessional statement. But his mother revealed that this was under coercion. Even after his capture from Badda in the capital, Mufti Abdul Hannan, the leader of the banned terrorist organization Harkat-ul-Jihad, admitted to taking part in the grenade attack that took place on August 21 when being questioned by the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) on October 1, 2005. He stated that he was one of the people who threw the grenade. On the other hand, it does not appear that anyone attempted to sue him.

In 2007, the army-backed caretaker administration arrived, and one of its first orders was to investigate the grenade attack. In November 2007, six militants testified in court, including Mufti Hannan and the other individuals with whom he was travelling. Following an analysis of their comments, the names of the front-line assailants and their accomplices, the tactics of the attack, and the availability of grenades were disclosed. Later on, on January 17, 2008, Abdus Salam Pintu, who had served as a deputy minister in the previous coalition cabinet led by the BNP, was taken into custody. It was established as a result of the inquiry that the militants conducted a strategy meeting just three days before the attack at the residence of the former Deputy Minister in Dhanmondi. Mufti Hannan recognised this fact in the statement he provided to the court. Maulana Tajuddin, who was recognised as the brother of the former Deputy Minister by the investigating officials, was the individual who supplied the grenades that were carried from Pakistan for the attack.

These grenades were used in the attack. When the trial began in June of 2008, there were 22 defendants, one of whom was Mufti Hannan. Despite this, the trial was pushed back to an unspecified later date. After the Awami League took office later in 2009, an investigation into the matter was subsequently conducted, and in 2011, a further 32 persons were charged with committing new felonies. On October 10, 2018, a decision was reached regarding the case. A number of 19 individuals including the former Home Minister Lutfozzaman Babar and Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu were sentenced to death. Besides, 19 others including Tarique Rahman and Harris Chowdhury and the former Member of Parliament Kaikobad were awarded life sentences.

The judgment found that the coalition government that was then in power led by the BNP was behind the cruel and violent attack on August 21, 2004. It just used militants for execution of mission which purported to eradicate principles and legacy of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh and the one who paved the way for the country's freedom. 

Sheikh Hasina, Bangabandhu's illustrious daughter and the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, embodies the qualities of leadership that her father possessed to a remarkable degree. She has devoted her entire life to serving the government and defending the values instilled in her by her father's country.

The daughter of Bangabandhu was met with a great deal of opposition and criticism along the way. During the time of the Pakistani dictatorship and the liberation war, those Jamaat-oriented parties spoke Bengali, but they desired to superimpose the foreign language of Urdu on top of it. That still harbours a fantasy of annexing Bangladesh back to Pakistan and defines Bengalis as Hindu and kafir. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina executed Bangabandhu's unfinished task of prosecuting war criminals on Bangladesh territory and ending the bloodshed in Bangladesh. For following footsteps of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his daughter Sheikh Hasina has been the target of multiple attacks that threatened her life on numerious occasions. Whether she is in office or not, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has always been a target of retaliation from the religious bigots and pro-Pakistani elements. This has been the case regardless of whether she is in power.

Just like her father, Sheikh Hasina could not be dissuaded from continuing her mission even though her life was in danger. She has been given immense strength to pass on to the next generation the spirit that Bangabandhu instilled in the hearts of his people as a result of the events of August, even though August has cost her and all Bengalis anguish and loss. She has been so focused on bringing justice to those waiting for years that she has failed to care for her own life while rooting out the subversive criminals. The assassins of Bangabandhu, war criminals, rising militants, and the planners and perpetrators of the August 21 grenade attack have all been appropriately tried and punished in Bangladesh only because of the rock-solid patriotism of Bangladesh's honourable Prime Minister, her unwavering belief in the spirit of liberation, and, much like her Father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, her unfathomable love for Bengalis in general. There is not the slightest shadow of a doubt in our minds that she will continue to steer Bangladesh toward the summit of peace and development. Let us express our gratitude for the extraordinary traits that Sheikh Hasina possesses as a leader. I wish her a long, happy, and healthy life.

(The Author is a Writer, Columnist, Educationist, Folklorist, Professor of English and Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh)