21 August, 21 August 2004, Analysis, Awami League, Bangladesh, grenade attack, Opinion, Politics

The tale of 21 August grenade attack in Bangladesh

Jahanara Nuri 20 August 2025

The crimson monsoon Early rainy season’s subtle steps was felt in the hot, humid afternoon in Dhaka on August 21, 2004. Bangladesh. The sun hung low on the horizon, shadows of people and everything around them stretched long across Dhaka’s bustling Bangabandhu Avenue. The city's pulse beat fervently as thousands convened for the peace rally of Awami League— a party accustomed to the shadow of political strife since 1949-announced its stand against violence. Their rally was initially planned for Muktangon, the venue shifted to the broad crossroads near the Party headquarters after the permission for Muktangon was not available. The megacity's atmosphere mirrored the rally's intent—solemn yet resolute. At the heart of the gathering, Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the Awami League, stood on a truck. Encircled by leaders spanning generations of the party, she addressed the crowd with a voice of steely determination, condemning terrorism and championing justice and democracy. Waves of supporters, brandishing banners and flags, cheered her

on, their hope defying the precarious political climate. At precisely 5:22 PM, the air buzzed with anticipation as Sheikh Hasina concluded her speech with the defiant cry, “Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu.” "I had barely completed my speech and was going to get down from the truck when I heard a big bang and the next moment blood splashed on my body." The ear-splitting explosion of a grenade detonated just yards from Hasina's podium sent a cascade of shrapnel into the crowd and shattered the assembly's energy. Chaos erupted. Screams of terror mingled with the acrid smell of gunpowder as panic swept through the sea of people, scattering them like leaves in a gale. The human and the bulletproof barrier In a swift and seamless motion, leaders around Sheikh Hasina formed a protective human shield with a singular, instinctive resolve, their outstretched arms defying the onslaught and helping her get into the car with security personnel. Time seemed to suspend; the…

Political Memoir

DIPLOMACY: The Scandal at the Bay

Jahanara Nuri 29 April 2025

This article delves into the intricate web of political and social upheaval in Bangladesh, set against a backdrop of international diplomacy and internal strife. Following a scandal that rocked the nation, the narrative captures the tension and chaos that ensued, highlighting the swift actions of the ruling party and the subsequent crackdown on opposition members. The story unfolds through the eyes of the narrator, who reflects on the broader implications of these events, both locally and globally.

29 April 2025

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PART 2 EIGHT In the hours that followed, headlines screamed, advisors, king's party NCP, their street fighting brotherhoods and influencers ─ home and abroad ─ scrambled like startled crows of Dhaka. Spaces in prisons, emptied since July by convicted Islamists and criminals, were now being filled with detainees from the opposition Awami League. The grass pellets of the plain-lands suddenly began revealing deceased bodies, hidden among small bushes and gardens — like decayed morals pouring out from a collapsing social status quo. The air felt thick. Not with dust, nor with smog, but with something slower, heavier. A silence pressed against people's skin. Tension stirred underneath, slipped between tea stalls in narrow lanes, breathed across newsroom floors in Kawran Bazaar, leaned against embassy gates in Baridhara, and spilled like floating things from a vandalised fair of the new year into the restless currents of social media. It threaded from the heart of the Delta to places the stars barely knew.

Something quieter set in. Something had shifted. Something had begun. Between official denials and unofficial panics, I found myself stepping out of the noise and into something else entirely. A slower current. A deeper breath to pause. The kind of pause that comes just before time changes shape─softly, almost imperceptibly─and no one notices until the change is visible. In Delta, that March morning was warmer─the kind where rickshaw bells ring like distant memories, and in the gloomy air of dawn, people begin to miss the sight of tea steam rising as it does in winter ─ like incense offered before a headless god, a haunting symbol of the ongoing wave of temple attacks across the country. But here, far away, the cold made a different kind of presence. I cracked open the French window of a flat the Swedes call a lägenhet, and an emboldened icy air froze me almost instantly. My hot lal cha was moments away from freezing.…

Dr Yunus, Opinion, Politics

The Scandal at the Bay: How Dhaka’s Diplomacy unravelled

Jahanara Nuri 4 April 2025

A storm erupted when Bangladesh's Press Wing hastily responded to Tulsi Gabbard’s comments on minority issues. Ignoring protocol, the response fuelled ongoing "hate India" sentiments, deepening political and religious divides. Gabbard’s oversimplification of the 1971 Liberation War clashed with its complex realities, creating further misunderstanding. Islamists seized the moment, adding fuel to the fire. As crackdowns on the Awami League intensified, Dhaka’s diplomatic fragility was exposed— a bitter lesson in the dangers of reckless rhetoric. The Head of the Press Wing of the Interim Government received a new crown: "Enemy of the People", whose mantra became: "Blame your opposition for the crimes you commit."

4 April 2025

PART 1 One. A single spark can set a forest ablaze. A single word, misplaced, can unravel years of diplomacy. What unfolded was no ordinary misstep─ it was an act of unchecked enthusiasm, a leap before looking, A whisper that turned into crying in the middle of the night. The storm began with a statement—seemingly harmless. It was meant to fall into the right hands, yet perhaps because it landed in the wrong ones, it became a matchstick struck against dry kindling. Neither the Press Secretary, who played a starring role in this drama, nor his employer, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, seemed to remember this childhood lesson: Too much of anything is perilous. With one impulsive stroke, Dhaka’s diplomacy was cast into turbulent waters. Some whispered it was reckless; others suspected it was deliberate. Two. An encounter with a spy chief March 12, 2025 - South Asia. In the front page splash of Indian media heat a news─ Ms. Tulsi Gabbard,

the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, the first woman to hold the role, and a combat veteran─ was the first Trump administration official to set foot in India, since January, 2020. India, a pivotal U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific, was poised to play a central role in Tulsi Gabbard's diplomatic agenda. On February 12, she etched her name in history as the first U.S. official to meet with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Blair House, just days before his high-stakes discussions with President Donald Trump. On March 18, 2025, she delivered a significant address at the esteemed Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, focusing on "Global Security and Minority Protection in South Asia." As India's premier conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, the Raisina Dialogue brings together global leaders to discuss pressing international issues. (Rezaul H. Lashkar, Mar 12, 2025, Hindustan Times). *** Her personal connection to Hinduism runs deep. Raised by a mother who embraced the faith and passed it…