View allAll Photos Tagged CONFESSIONAL
June 4th, 2016 - Dashboard Confessional performs live at Freedom Hill Amphitheatre in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Credit: Joe Orlando. www.schwegweb.com
went to a wedding this past weekend. very nice building, with a couple of confessional booths set up at the back of the sanctuary. i'd never sat in one before so..i did. wierd feeling, kinda smelt a little like old wood, or like a cabin. this photo is from inside looking out.
Confessional - Cathédrale notre Dame de Québec - Notre Dame Cathedral - Quebec City, 2015/05
L’aïeul
L’aïeul mourait froid et rigide.
Il avait quatre-vingt-dix ans.
La blancheur de son front livide
Semblait blanche sur ses draps blancs.
Il entr’ouvrit son grand oeil pâle,
Et puis il parla d’une voix
Lointaine et vague comme un râle,
Ou comme un souffle au fond des bois.
Est-ce un souvenir, est-ce un rêve ?
Aux clairs matins de grand soleil
L’arbre fermentait sous la sève,
Mon coeur battait d’un sang vermeil.
Est-ce un souvenir, est-ce un rêve ?
Comme la vie est douce et brève !
Je me souviens, je me souviens
Des jours passés, des jours anciens !
J’étais jeune ! je me souviens !
Est-ce un souvenir, est-ce un rêve ?
L’onde sent un frisson courir
A toute brise qui s’élève ;
Mon sein tremblait à tout désir.
Est-ce un souvenir, est-ce un rêve.
Ce souffle ardent qui nous soulève ?
Je me souviens, je me souviens !
Force et jeunesse ! ô joyeux biens !
L’amour ! l’amour ! je me souviens !
Est-ce un souvenir, est-ce un rêve ?
Ma poitrine est pleine du bruit
Que font les vagues sur la grève,
Ma pensée hésite et me fuit.
Est-ce un souvenir, est-ce un rêve
Que je commence ou que j’achève ?
Je me souviens, je me souviens !
On va m’étendre près des miens ;
La mort ! la mort ! je me souviens !
Des vers - Guy de Maupassant
[...]
NIkon F100 @ IL+1
Micro Nikkor 60mm
Ilford hp5 @800
Kodak D76 (stock)
Nikon Coolscan LS5000
CS5 : Contrast and unsharp mask
The crowd surrounding Banksy's Concrete Confessional piece, on the twelfth day of his Better Out Than In show in NYC. E 7th St and Cooper Sq.
Artist Willem Vermandere with one of his sculptures in the confessional of the church in Lauwe where he exhibited his works.
From the autumn 2016 trip to Vietnam:
If ever there were a good way to finish up a trip, this particular Sunday in October would be it. Before arriving in Hanoi, I honestly had exceptionally low expectations. A bit like Saigon, if you are to go online and try to look up a list of places to visit – basically a tourist’s stock photography checklist, as it may be – you don’t find much that’s appealing. Well…I didn’t, anyway, and as a result, I had pretty low expectations for Hanoi.
The charm and beauty of Hanoi, however, isn’t in any one particular place. It’s in the experience of the entire city. (I’d say the same for Saigon, but multiply that a few times for Hanoi.) On this day in the Old Quarter in particular, I kept finding myself thinking, “Oh, my God, I shouldn’t be this lucky as a photographer…” Today ended up being mostly about people, with a little food and historical locations mixed in.
As I mentioned in the last set of posting, today would start off a bit sad with Junebug leaving for China a day before I would. So, we were checked out of our room by 6:00 in the morning or so. The breakfast at the Art Trendy was wonderful. Buffet with a mix of made-to-order omelets mixed in. Strong work, Art Trendy, strong work…
When June left, I really had nothing to do since it was still six in the morning and I was temporarily homeless as I had to switch hotels. So…I sat around the lobby for about two hours (possibly slightly awkward for the poor girls working there, but oh, well; I had to sit somewhere).
Around 8:00, I finally dragged my old bones out of the hotel and walked the five to ten minutes down the street to the Aquarius, where I politely asked them to hold my non-camera bag until I come back around 1:00 in the afternoon to check in.
After that, I was finally off with my cameras to enjoy an early Sunday morning in the bustling Old Quarter. On the street where the hotel is situated are a number of restaurants where locals were jammed in to enjoy noodles, steamed buns, and the like. It was wonderful to be among that crowd (though someone tried to scold me ever so slightly for taking pictures of people eating).
Since this was right next to St. Joseph’s Cathedral – and it was Sunday morning – I found my way back into the church where we crashed the wedding the afternoon before and realized that I almost got locked into Sunday mass while walking around taking pictures. So…I stayed. I prayed. And my prayer was answered when I realized the side doors and even the back door were open. (Ok…I didn’t really think I was locked in a church, but it did feel like it a little bit.)
Upon exiting the church, a handful of frames under my belt, I walked along the lovely streets photographing shops and people. At Caphe, I piggybacked on someone else’s photo shoot – it looked like they were doing a promo for the place, or possibly just a personal shoot for five women, though I have a feeling it was the former. At any rate, I was quite pleased with that little set and am presenting quite a few of those here, even if they’re a little redundant.
My ultimate goal with this wandering was to find my way to the Hanoi Hilton. Now, I’m not taking about the hotel chain, of course, but rather the prison that U.S. prisoners of war sarcastically called the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. (This is the prison where Senator John McCain was interred while a POW, and there are one or two pictures to that effect here.)
This prison has a particularly interesting history (and morbid since…well…it’s a prison). It’s about a hundred years old and was founded by the French colonialists around the turn of the 20th century. During the first 50 years of its history, the French imprisoned Vietnamese insurgents and those who wanted independence. In the eyes of the French…renegades (hence the imprisonment). In the eyes of the Vietnamese – especially the current government – patriots and national heroes. If they were truly freedom fighters, then I would probably side with the current government on that one.
The French even had a guillotine installed here and overcrowding was a major problem. There were plenty of escape attempts, and more were successful than you may think, which is a little peculiar.
After the battle of Bien Dien Phu and the ejection of the French from the north (and before the U.S. got involved in the south), the prison changed hands and was under control of Ho Chi Minh. During the Vietnam War, it became one of the main prisons for U.S. POWs, as I alluded to above.
The propaganda claims that the Vietcong were absolutely humane and decent with U.S. prisoners, allowing them to observe their religious rites (Christmas celebrations, etc.), allowed prisoners to smoke and enjoy leisure (board games, basketball, etc.), and claimed they were well-fed.
This is certainly how it’s presented in the prison/museum currently. If you were to go online, though, and try to find a contrary report, you would find that this was all coerced and staged to make it appear as if things were on the up and up. (For anyone curious, per my Vietnamese friends, the general education in Vietnam today is how terrible the French and U.S. were for colonizing and torturing the country and keeping it from its independence.)
So, what’s the truth of what really happened? Who knows? Outside of firsthand accounts, it’s impossible to know for certain and even then, memory can be a tricky thing. I tend to like to say the truth is always somewhere between two opposing viewpoints, no matter what the topic may be.
From an impartial and purely photographic point of view, the prison, currently a museum/memorial, is an interesting place to spend an hour or two. Some of the exhibits seem a bit cheesy, but some are quite tasteful and well done. There’s also an informational video. You’ll have to see this with a bit of imagination (the prison, that is), as at least half of it has been leveled for high rise buildings. At least there’s some tangible piece of it left to visit, including the main gate (Maison Centrale).
After about two hours here at the Hanoi Hilton, I walked over towards the Opera House to get a few daytime shots but, really, to get lunch at El Gaucho. I was looking forward to a proper steak. The prices were astronomical (though justifiable based on what I ate), though I just opted for a steak salad. It was so good I contemplated going back for dinner, but had other plans.
With a happy stomach, I went back to finally check in at the Aquarius Hotel and got my workout huffing up six flights of stairs each time I went out. I relaxed here for a few hours until 4:00 when a dear friend of mine came to town to see me.
Ngan and I had an ice cream at Baskin Robbins right in front of St. Joe’s before heading over to the Temple of Literature. This is a temple dedicated to education and, bless my soul, it’s a place where university graduates come for graduation pictures.
On this particular day – a warm, sunny, late Sunday afternoon – it was packed with college students. And it was beautiful to see that many people happy, full of hopes and dreams, and dressed in either cap and gown or traditional Vietnamese clothes. In short…I had a field day shooting for an hour here.
Around 5:00, Ngan had to head back to school, and I went back to my hotel. I had one more meeting. Hoa, who traveled around Thailand & Cambodia with me in May, flew back to see me this evening. She picked me up at 6:00 on her scooter and rode me all around Hanoi by evening.
She started by taking me to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (which I consider a lot more photogenic in its setting than the Great Gangster’s Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square). This one, at least, was in a parklike setting. At evening, it’s well-lit and you can find people relaxing in the grass in front of it. During the day, you can visit and there are quite a few buildings behind the mausoleum that you can also see.
After a few minutes here, Hoa took me by West Lake – the largest lake in Hanoi, as I mentioned yesterday – and just drove me around for over an hour, it seemed. My impressions that Hanoi (even out of the Old Quarter) seemed to be a good place to live – though I’d be concerned about the air pollution – and people here seemed to be happy. Also…Vietnamese really love their coffee.
We finally returned to the Old Quarter for dinner at one of the famous restaurants she recommended and she treated me to a wonderful dinner. I can’t recall what we ate (the Vietnamese names of it, anyway), but it was nice.
After dinner, she drove me over towards the Opera House and then, finally, we stopped by Hoan Kiem Lake in the heart of the Quarter and walked around the lake. It was getting close to 10:00 by this time, and I wanted to get back to the hotel to get a few hours sleep before waking up for my early flight in the morning. Hoa came to the airport with me to see me off.
If ever there were a great way to finish a great trip, this was it. I absolutely loved Vietnam – honestly, a lot more than I imagined I would, even with every single person I know who’d ever come here saying what a fantastic country this is – and would gladly come back. This seems to be one of the kinds of countries that you would never get tired of or, if you did, it would sure take a long time. With that, I’ll bid goodbye to Vietnam for now with the hopes that I’ll someday return to this land of amazing food, landscapes, and people.
As always, thanks for dropping by and viewing these pictures. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments and I’ll answer as I have time.
positive scanned::Rolleiflex 2.8e::Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm f2.8:: Fujichrome Astia 100F [RAP] :: Orchid Park Kuala Lumpur ::
the soundtrack Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animal
Dashboard's recent album when I did this was The shade of a poison tree. I thought this made sense. I recently did several tee-shirt and merch designs for the band too.
This was inside the small pagoda temple. It was a small confessional, with two sides and two doors. You could enter either side and wait for another person to enter and confess, or you yourself could bare your soul.
well i love this group. the group description says to take a picture that confesses something about yourself. so i objectively thought about myself, and i decided that i really feel like i have no balls when it comes to talking pictures that i really want to take....i REALLY want to take pictures of complete strangers and get their story, to capture the true character of their face, to just speak with them for even just a moment and grab that moment with the camera, to get a CLOSE shot, not just a street shot. but what am i scared of? well, rejection or getting laughed at, which i can deal with, but deeper, i'm scared of not being able to break away from them. i dont know if that makes sense. i don't feel like figuring it out in this little description box at 3:21am.
so, for instance..this picture, i was sitting next to him on the subway. we were very close to each other (in new york,personal space doesn't really exist), but sat in silence. i snapped this because he looked like he was in some sort of peace looking out the window, and it was noisy on the train so he couldn't hear the shutter snap in his ear (which was seriously like 5 inches away, people.) he had the tattoo on his fingers which said life. why wouldn't i talk to him? well mainly, because i got the picture that i wanted out of the situation. but even further... why life?
St Joesph's Chapel was added to the original house and still remains to this day in a much better state than the rest of the building.
Video of the explore including footage from our AR Drone available here.
Part I >> Part II >> Part III >> Part IV >> Part V >> Part VI >> Part VII >> Part VIII
Abandoned Scotland Online
November 21, 2014 – Boston, MA – Today Morgan Stanley, Boston Global Investors, and the Archdiocese of Boston, home to nearly two million Catholics and the fourth largest archdiocese in the nation, break ground for Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel at 51 Seaport Boulevard Boston, Massachusetts. The chapel is the first Catholic worship site to be built in Boston in more than 50 years. The existing Our Lady of Good Voyage chapel across the street on Northern Avenue has been a religious foundation in Boston for over half a century. The construction of a new chapel signifies a historic intersection of old and new as the Archdiocese officially joins the 23-acre Seaport Square project, the largest approved planned development area in the history of the city of Boston. Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel is designed by ADD Inc/Stantec. The new 5,000 SF structure, capped by a steeple outside and including a choir loft, will be located at the intersection of Seaport Boulevard and Sleeper Street. It is slated for completion in late 2015 and the current Our Lady of Good Voyage will remain open until its new structure is complete. www.seaportchapelboston.com
Cardinal Seán O’Malley said, “Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel, newly constructed at a central location in the Seaport, will continue to serve as a place of prayer and comfort to a diverse community of professionals, families, and travelers. The new chapel design will embrace the history of generations of maritime workers and welcome all who will live, work in and visit the Seaport. We are grateful to Boston Global Investors for partnering with us, and in particular to John Hynes, for his commitment to the Seaport and his recognizing the importance of a vibrant Catholic presence to serve the local faith community.”
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said, "It's rare that we have an opportunity to construct something that is informed by rich history and, at the same time, will be central to the fabric of this up and coming neighborhood. In an area where millions of square feet of new development are now under construction, the 5,000 square foot Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel stands out as a testament to the power of community and the importance of faith. The partnership between the Archdiocese of Boston and Boston Global Investors embodies a spirit of good will that will help ensure that the Seaport is a place where people are welcome to live, work, play, and pray."
John Hynes, Managing Partner at Boston Global Investors, said, “We are thrilled to be developing this chapel for the Archdiocese and feel quite honored to be doing so. The existing chapel, which is over 60 years old would have required an enormous amount of capital improvements, while the future site, right around the corner on Seaport Boulevard, perfectly supported a new chapel. No doubt this new chapel will better satisfy the long-term criteria of the Archdiocese and its growing population of parishioners in the Innovation District.”
Tamara Roy, Principal Architect at ADD Inc/Stantec, added “The design of the new chapel for Our Lady of Good Voyage was inspired by traditional churches found in the countryside of Italy that have roman bricks of varying tones and depths with simple forms.”
Our Lady of Good Voyage, often referred to as the Fish Pier Chapel, was originally founded on December 8, 1952 on land donated by Frederic G. Dumaine, Jr. Once home to Boston’s dockworkers and sailors, its first mass saw 200 parishioners from the local community.
With its groundbreaking, Our Lady of Good Voyage represents the ideal mergence of tradition and innovation to serve a unique and growing congregation in Seaport Square. Over the next several years, Seaport Square is expected to develop into twenty blocks of world-class retail, business, and residential space, knitting together the Financial District, Waterfront, Fort Point Channel and Fan Pier. Through the anticipated construction of five new streets, over 20 buildings, and four prominent public gathering areas, Seaport Square is expected to redefine the meaning of a unified, walk-able, and dynamic neighborhood. Large areas of open and green space, direct access to public transportation, and energy efficient design will be embedded within each building. Seaport Square has direct access to downtown Boston as well as to the I-93 and I-90 interchange, is located in close proximity to Logan Airport and Amtrak’s South Station, and has easy access to public transit with the Courthouse Silver Line Station immediately adjacent to Courthouse Square. Less than a quarter of a mile north of Seaport Square are The Rose F. Kennedy Greenway and Financial District, just steps south of Seaport Square is the thriving Fan Pier, a 21-acre development.
Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel will stand as a religious cornerstone for the development and for the Seaport District at large. Its design will continue to pay tribute to its Boston maritime roots, incorporating a rich tapestry of symbolism with nautical elements imbued with religious significance. Standing at one-story tall and spanning 5,000 square feet, the chapel will showcase a traditional bell tower design and an A-frame roof.
The carved Gothic railing that will enclose the shrine previously was located in Holy Trinity German Catholic Church on Shawmut Avenue in Boston. Additional religious artifacts and furnishings from surrounding local churches will also be preserved and featured throughout the new structure, including an extraordinarily rare statue of the Blessed Virgin from the original Our Lady of Good Voyage. In a nod to its location and original seafaring parishioners, this statue of the Blessed Virgin holding a model of a Gloucester fishing schooner will be enshrined prominently in a devotional chapel near the entry.
Plans for Our Lady of Good Voyage call for a basilica layout to honor the designs that originated in the earliest churches raised after the Roman persecutions. The sanctuary of the church will be oriented eastward, following the traditional arrangement where sunrise connotes Christ's second coming. This symbolic meaning will be enhanced with an expansive window over the altarpiece.
The church's entry is currently designed to be flanked by stained glass images of the Virgin Mary, patroness of the chapel, and St. Peter, called to be a fisher of men. Diamond patterned glass reminiscent of fishing nets, in addition to the coats of arms of Pope Francis and Cardinal O'Malley, are designed to accent these windows. The narthex, a welcoming reception area, links the main doors to the nave entrance beyond it. It serves as a place of preparation and transition between the world and the timeless, sacred space of the church interior where a shrine to Our Lady of Good Voyage and the priest's vestry can also be found.
The central space of the nave—from navis, Latin for ship—has a wood ceiling much like the overturned hull of a boat and the barque of Saint Peter. It is inspired by numerous New England churches whose ceilings were constructed in ages past by ship carpenters. Native American wood will be featured in the wall paneling and furnishings and ship models will be integrated into the design of the interior. The stained glass and woodwork will also include marine-themed ornaments and inscriptions. The nave is divided into three aisles with a confessional in the back, and stained-glass windows repurposed from Holy Trinity and Our Lady of the Assumption in Chelsea featuring twelve saints will be positioned along the length of the nave.
A freestanding altar, also from Holy Trinity's lower church, has a handcrafted ambo with a baptismal font designed especially for Our Lady of Good Voyage. A skylight overhead will cast sunlight onto the altar. Behind it, and serving as the location for the tabernacle, will be a marble altarpiece that once stood in St. Adalbert's Parish in Hyde Park, Massachusetts; an oversized east window over the altar will be repurposed from St. Catherine of Siena in Charlestown. Two statuary niches from Holy Trinity will also embellish the rear wall of the sanctuary. On either side of the sanctuary are handicapped ramps, separated by wood-carved screens. The meeting room space will include a backlit stained glass window from the former chapel, as well as grisaille glass featuring nautical scenes reworked from panels taken from Holy Trinity. Our Lady of Good Voyage will have a choir loft and organ chambers with a balustrade repurposed from the loft at Holy Trinity. A rose window composed of an octofoil panel from St. Augustine's in South Boston will illuminate the space with seating for 46 choristers.
To connect with our Lady of Good Voyage on Facebook and Twitter please visit Chapel of Our Lady of Good Voyage; @ourladygdvoyage
Photos by George Martell - BCDS - Archdiocese of Boston 2014
Ridiculed Confessional.
Et mente confusa est, palpitantibus praevalens mentem venit,,
Leiden betont abscheulichen Laudanum Hysterie spricht,
protubérances funestes médicaments intolérables prolonger flammes les poisons de terrible Dérangement,
ιδιοσυγκρασίες μανία πνευματικής αγωνίες τρομερή φόβους κατανοητή,
trance tardive outreaching follia collegamento sensazioni irresponsabili conosce,
נערוועז מעלאַנטשאָליק סטרימז פאַרפאַלן מאַרך אנפאלן,
swineherds gcroí agróirí sotalach foréigean gan chéill troideanna scaoll meargánta,
ружан јело затамњена стражари значи лутају прагове врата,
seirenau dyheu i lawr cyfnod o osteg tonnau llongau mewnol,
å skade følges fostret tunge mastene dysser breezes furling åndedrag frossen,
korlátos kavargó hibák nyögött siránkozás remegni,
vanyan sòlda senbòl mistik konstwi èstetisyen powèt enpòtan espontane,
estetiikka ilmaisuja vahingollisia löytää epäilyttäviä tunteita asianomaisen,
undirdeildir pervading náinn möguleika hlykkjótt sjón loforð eyðilögð eyðublöð,
movimentos comunicativos moderno curvilíneas poesia inspirações bywords cativante feitas!
Steve.D.Hammond.
It was 5.23 pm on 21st august 2004 when Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina was wrapping up a rally protesting Sylhet blasts. A wave of grenade attacks on her left at least 16 people killed and left around 200 persons critically injured including top Awami League leaders Abdur Razzak, Amir Hossain Amu, Suranjit Sengupta, Ivy Rahman and Kazi Zafarullah.
The party secretary on Women affairs Ivy Rahman died in the Hospital later in the day. The unknown assailants fired seven bullets at the bulletproof SUV that Hasina boarded immediately after the blast.
The unusually poor deployment of police at the rally and the absence of forces on nearby building rooftops are a remarkable deviation from the usual practice.
Motaher Hossain, general secretary of AL Krishak League said some people on the roof of Ramna hotel and adjacent building were throwing bombs. At least 13 grenades exploded one after another, and also who were present on the spot told a white Microbus carried of some injured person who were among the assailant and were wounded by their own bomb.
Blame game started at the very moment Hasina spoke out loud about government’s conspiracy to kill the remaining member of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujiber Rahman’s remaining family members, BNP leaders hold back and Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan commented that they have blamed the government out of emotion. But soon BNP leaders changed their tone and started to blame AL for attacking their own rally, they argued AL had done it to destabilize the country and discredit the government only to grab the power.
Fiction and conspiracy theories were put forward by various columnists in the media. Pro Awami columnists blamed the fundamentalist forces and the right wing coalition government for this attack while pro BNP columnists blamed AL and pointed finger towards the country’s biggest neighbor India.
However most columnists inclined towards Awami league and left parties and leaders and activists of these parties discovered a pattern in the bomb blasts. In most cases secular forces and those who believe in culture, tradition and democratic values had been the target. The same group was behind the attack on Hasina’s rally.
Those pro BNP columnists pick up the same incident and argued Hasina was not the target of those assailants, if she were their target then why none of those grenades fall on the truck and also wrote thousand pages about AL’s possible motive behind this?
Some suspected it as a plot by international Muslim extremist groups; some pointed towards the association of ISI (Inter Services Intelligence); while Jamaat leader Matiur Rahman Nizami believes it is the work of “well known enemies of Islam” who masterminded, through various covert organizations, to carry out such brutal murders.
It became increasingly hard to dig out the truth from these fictions. With conspiracy theories you can use any piece of evidence to either prove or disprove your opinion and you can pick up any particular incident to strengthen your position. Truth has many faces but with conspiracy theory all you can achieve is a thousand shade of the truth and all these are equally probable and could be equally false.
In this present regime we have finally a charge sheet that clearly indicates Awami Leagues position is correct in this issue, RAB and other government intelligence agency finally concluded that Islamic militants are behind this attack and also a small fraction of BNP activists patronized this attack.
But is it the whole truth or only a facade? Lets look at the proceedings of the investigations.
To investigate 21st August 2004 bomb blast then BNP government first employed metropolitan police’s detective branch to investigate this incident, then this case was handed over to the criminal investigation department of Bangladesh Police. Five investigating officer under 3 officers in charge investigated this incident for over 4 years and they had submitted two charge sheet contradicting each other.
What is the progress in this case? When ever you ask this question to a law enforcement officer, a certain reply will be that “we are still investigating this matter. We had some lead but for the sake of this on going investigation we can not tell you anything.” Even after submitting charge sheet against 22 person in June 11, 2008 and acquitting all other person found guilty (on the first charge sheet presented by the CID), still the investigation has not been closed. So far we have 2 persons who claimed that they had actively participated in this failed assassination. On 26th June, 2005 Joj Miah from Noakhali confessed to police that for 5000 taka he carried out this attack under the order of Subrata Bain, a top terrorist. Subrata Bain and his group had close ties with some notorious AL leaders and they fled to India after alliance government took over the state in October 2001. He confessed to a magistrate that he had never seen any grenade before but Subrata Bain, Joy, Molla Masud ordered him to participate in this assassination. ASP of Police [CID] Abdur Rashid was the investigation officer then.
But the government were not satisfied with this finding so led by Munsi Atikur Rahman the investigation continued. The investigation found a paved path established by the coalition government.
So far we have two investigation reports, one of them was by Justice Jaynul Abedin, chairman of the one man investigation committee formed by the government to investigate 21st august grenade attack on Awami leagues rally. Awami League has rejected this report claiming it lacks neutrality. And another one was submitted by the Supreme Court Bar Association. According to Moudud Ahmed, who was Law minister at that time, claimed that this inquiry committee is illegal.
Jaynul Abedin’s investigation report:
Justice Jaynul Abedin had submitted his 162 pages manuscript of coalition governments collective story on 2nd October 2004. He was the member and chairman of one man inquiry committee formed by the government to investigate the grenade attack on Awami League rally on 21st august. On the eve of this submission those authorities in concern had invited journalist to give some insight of the report.
After scrutiny, critical and painstaking analysis, Jaynul Abedin did omit the possibility that coalition government and his ally, some extremist religious group and a part of Awami League was behind this heinous attack on Awami League activists.
But he did claim with certainty that a foreign intelligence agency actively participated in this event. They trained those assailants and equipped them with necessary ammunitions. He described this event on that informal press conference, “this incident is a naked attack on the independence and sovereignty of the country.”
Because Jaynul Abedin was a BNP activist in the past, Awami League questioned the neutrality of the investigation committee. Even though 123 people given their statement to this committee but that does not include Sheikh Hasina, who was the prime target of this massacre. Sheikh Hasina rejected the call for her statement.
In that one and half hour informal briefing on the report prior to its submission Jaynul concluded “the commission may not have received cooperation from all, which may have somewhat hindered the investigation, but the inquiry is in no way incomplete.”
Like any other investigation report submitted by any government formed investigation committee it also embraced the fate to remain unpublished till-to-date.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) inquiry committee report:
On 22nd august, 2004, immediately after the grenade attack, The Supreme Court Bar Association formed an inquiry committee. Barrister Kamal Hossain was elected as the chairman of that committee and the other members of this committee were Rokonuddin Mahmud, Abdul Malek, Amir-ul-Islam, M Zahir and Muhammad Ayenuddin.
While Hasina wrapped up the rally, at that very moment a grenade went off loud and it was followed by at least 10 such explosions. Awami League leaders formed a human shield to cover Hasina from the splinter, they were injured in this process and soon after they escorted Hasina to her bullet proof SUV and Hasina left for Sudha Sadan, while on the move that SUV was attacked by bullets. Witnesses on their statement confirmed the SCBA inquiry committee that they had not seen any member of the law enforcing agency in action there.
After inspecting the place of occurrence on 27th august 2004 they went to Sudha Sadan, where Hasina assured the committee her full cooperation to find out the truth. Hasina’s security personal and her driver gave their statement to this committee and this committee also inspected the SUV.
Driver on his statement told the committee that he drove towards the east, then took a left turn and then he drove towards Sudha Sadan through zero point. But police officers deployed at the rally on 21st August on their statement said to inquiry committee, SUV carrying Sheikh Hasina away from that place drove westward, took a right turn, and then went to Sudha Sadan through zero point.
On 16th, 17th, 18th September the committee watched the video tape recorded by ATN, Channel I and NTV. On ATN video tape they saw a young man purposefully looking towards the multi storied Dhaka City Bhaban. Apart from this, on Channel I and NTV footage some suspicious incidents were seen by the committee members.
The inquiry committee sent two letters to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, requesting her to extend cooperation for the inquiry and to direct the law enforcing agency to cooperate with them in interest of its work.
A letter was sent from the inquiry committee to IGP Shahudul Huq on 29 August 2004 requesting him to direct the police authorities to inform the inquiry committee of the number of persons who were deployed for maintaining the law and order in the public meeting on 21st August 2004 with the descriptions of their duties and locations.
After 3 weeks another letter was sent to him, requesting for his interview. The inquiry committee requested state minister of home affairs, but all of them turned down their request further more the law minister Moudud Ahmed on several occasion said that this inquiry committee had no legal basis and any report of any such illegal committee should not be recognized.
But the government did inform the SCBA inquiry committee that they had done every thing that is possible for them and sent a copy of the statement made by the State Minister for Home Affairs in the Parliament. In that speech the State Minister mentioned that the police made all out efforts to identify the culprits immediately after the incident and within 24 hours a Judicial Inquiry Commission was constituted with a judge of the Supreme Court as the sole Member. He also mentioned that the Government also arranged for an “international” inquiry into the 21st August incident side by side with Bangladesh police investigation and in response to the Government invitation 3 (three) teams from Interpol visited Bangladesh and helped the inquiry. Besides this, the government had also taken cooperation of FBI of USA.
The SCBA inquiry committee made repeated requests at the highest levels of the government for obtaining copies of reports of earlier bomb-blasts, the report of the ‘judicial inquiry’ into the 21 August, 2004 constituted by the Government, and other documents and information, but such requests have till-to-date were turned down.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) inquiry committee concluded it was a pre-planned attack, carried out on the basis of a carefully prepared plan, targeting Sheikh Hasina and other leaders and persons attending the rally. The firing of the bullets and grenades on the vehicle by which she was leaving the place of occurrence, confirms that she was the target.
The committee urged government to publish all reports of investigation within one month or else public may lead to believe attempt on Sheikh Hasina’s life was to some extent was patronized by this government.
The alleged HUJI rage against Awami League:
Some columnists claimed in the media that the AL government, after assuming power in 1996 barred Islamic scholars from issuing fatwa’s through a High Court order. The government also came on strong against the right wing protesters and arrested hundreds across the country. This had angered HUJI.
Mufti Abdul Hannan, the operative commander of the banned Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami revealed on 19th November 2006.
“I masterminded all grenade attacks across the country excepting the August 21, 2004 gruesome attack on the AL rally, and three people financed the outfit for carrying out the attacks”
Hannan gave another detailed statement on 1st November 2007:
“Kajol was given the responsibility to collect funds and grenades for the attack. They decided that 12 persons would carry out the attack and Kajol and Abu Jandal would select the commanders of the operation. It was decided that Kajol and Jandal brief the attackers about their positions and Jandal would throw the first grenade after getting instruction from Sayeed. The others would throw their grenades at around the same time. Hannan said the attackers targeted the truck and left the spot individually after the operation.”
However question remains as why HUJI chose to attack Hasina after all those years and during the period when there was a row of political killings of Awami League leaders (Kibria, Ahsan Master etc.) were happening. HUJI members were used but who masterminded the attack?
The BNP connection:
In January 2008, former deputy minister for information of the BNP government Abdus Salam Pintu was arrested for his involvement with the grenade attacks on Awami League rally on August 21 in 2004. He was arrested on the basis of confessional statement made earlier by detained Mufti Hannan who claimed that the attack on the AL rally was planned at the official residence of the former Deputy Minister. Hannan said that Pintu was present at the meeting and later supplied the grenades.
He made startling disclosure to interrogators about the involvement of former State Minister of Home Lutfuzzaman Babar and ‘Hawa Bhaban’ in the grenade attacks. From The New Nation:
“The CID officer said they were certain after the arrest of Mufti Hannan and Pintu that the attack on the AL rally had been aided and abetted by Lutfuzzaman Babar and the Hawa Bhaban.
“To hide the truth, former investigation officer Ruhul Amin, a CID officer, had gone to Pintu’s house several times,” he said, and added, “former State Minister of Home Babar was involved in the entire process and Pintu would regularly inquire with him about the progress.”
Pintu’s counsel Advocate Sanaullah Mia, however, told : “He was implicated only because his cousin Maulana Tajul Islam, a militant leader and an accused in the grenade attack case, had visited his house when Pintu was a Minister,”
HUJI is the culprit but who used them and why?
On June 11, 2008 charges were finally made against 22 persons including top Harkat-ul-Jihad (Huji) leader Mufti Abdul Hannan and BNP leader and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu. Newspaper reports say:
“CID Chief Additional Inspector General Jabed Patwari said HUJI top leaders planned and carried out the attacks to kill Hasina as a few arrested attackers said in their confessional statements that Hasina would harm Islam if she was alive and came to power again.
BNP leader Pintu is not involved with Huji but he has been charged since the attackers had held two meetings at his residence to take decision about the attack.”
But the question remains whether HUJI tried to kill Hasina on their own or it was a political assassination plot linked by BNP to take out the opposition. Like every other political massacre the 21st August grenade attack on Hasina has no clear motive whatsoever and after 4 years of investigation we are not certain whether those who were behind this ghastly attack have finally been exposed. Will we be able to know the truth?