8 radical
Islamists receive death penalties and 6 more get life sentences for the 2001
bombings that killed 10.
Jannatul Ferdousi Shilpi, 17, yearned to witness the annual cultural show
heralding Pohela Boishakh, the 1st day of the Bengali calendar, in Dhaka's
Ramna Park.
13 years ago to get ready for the programme, she and her 2 cousins, Reazul
Haque, 20, and Mamun Gazi, 22, travelled from their remote home in southwestern
Baufal to her brother's house in Dhaka.
They woke up early April 14th to secure a vantage spot 10 metres from the stage
where the singers performed.
At around 8.15am, an explosion in the jam-packed audience sent everyone running
for cover.
15 minutes later another blast ensued. Shilpi, Haque and Gazi were among the 10
people killed in the explosions.
After a 7-year investigation, police confirmed the heinous act was the work of
outlawed Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI).
More than 13 years after the grisly attacks, the victims' family members
rejoiced as a Dhaka court on June 23rd handed down capital punishment to 8
militants and life sentences to 6 others.
Mastermind Mufti Abdul Hannan and his accomplices Akbar Hossain, Arif Hasan,
Maulana Tajuddin, Hafez Jahangir Alam, Maulana Abu Bakr, Mufti Abdul Hye and
Mufti Shafiqur Rahman received the death penalty.
Tajuddin, Alam, Bakr, Hye and Rahman remain at large.
Shilpi and her cousins "left the village to be present at the Ramna Botomul to
celebrate the Pohela Boishakh . But we never thought they would leave us
forever," Kamrul Hasan, a cousin living in Baufaluakhali, told Khabar South
Asia. "They went to enjoy the performance. Was it their sin?"
Shipli's mother died around 5 years ago. Her blind father Hashem Gazi, is still
alive. "I can die in peace if I could see their execution," he told Khabar
about the perpetrators. "They are the enemy of Islam."
In the chargesheet, the police said the militant group targeted the Ramna
Botomul - an area of the park - because it considered the cultural activities
"unIslamic".
Judge Ruhul Amin said in the verdict the attack was "brutal, barbaric, heinous
and unpardonable". "This is not a political case. ... Those who died in the
attacks were commoners," he said. "People of all faiths and ethnicities came to
celebrate the Pohela Boishakh."
Sanjida Khatun, president of hosting event and cultural organisation Chayanaut,
was satisfied with the judgment.
"This is an attack against our culture. We never thought that there will be an
attack on the traditional cultural event," Khatun said.
Former Inspector General of Police Abdul Quayum told Khabar that HuJI launched
attacks on cultural gatherings until Hannan's arrest in 2007.
"The militants and terrorists are the enemy of everyone," he said. "All
political parties must stand against them and the terrorists must be punished."
Source: Khabar South Asia, July 19, 2014
