Dhaka, Aug 21 (UNB) - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday called upon all the democracy-loving and pro-liberation forces to get united against militants, terrorists and bomb attackers to establish a lasting peace in the country.

 

The Prime Minister made the call while addressing a meeting organised at Bangabandhu Avenue in the morning, marking the 8th anniversary of heinous grenade attack on an Awami League rally at the same venue on this day in 2004.

 

Hasina said the trial of war criminals has begun, the verdict of the Bangabandhu murder case has been executed and the trial of the grenade attackers and their patrons will definitely be held on the soil of Bangladesh.

 

The Prime Minister said the country was liberated at the cost of 3 million people’s blood to bring smile on the faces of the downtrodden, and sought the cooperation of all in building a poverty-, hunger-, illiteracy- and exploitation-free Sonar Bangla based on the spirit of the Liberation War.

 

She said her government wants to build a peaceful Bangladesh free from all sorts of killing, terrorism and militancy, and revive the country’s image abroad.

 

Braving several attacks on her life since 1981, Hasina said, she has been working tirelessly to ensure the welfare of people ensuring food, shelter, education and healthcare for them.

 

“Allah might have saved my life from the dreadful grenade attack to serve the people of the country,” the premier said adding that her government restored the spirit of the Liberation War and stopped the path of grabbing state power by unconstitutional means through amending the constitution.

 

The Prime Minister said after the grenade attacks her party had demanded a discussion on the gruesome killing in parliament but the then treasury bench members paid no heed to their demand. “Instead, they cooperated with the killers and destroyed all the evidences.”

 

Grand alliance leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Sayed Ashraful Islam, Dilip Barua, Rashed Khan Menon and Hassanul Haq Inu, among others, spoke on the occasion.

 

At the beginning of the meeting, a one-minute silence was observed in memory of the victims of grenade attacks and a munajat was offered seeking divine blessings for the departed souls.

 

Earlier, the Prime Minister placed wreaths at the temporary altar erected at the venue in honor of the victims of the 21st August Grenade attacks. She also placed wreaths on behalf of her party.

 

After the meeting, she talked to the party members injured in the grenade attack and enquired about their conditions.