The Mymensingh cinema bombings were a coordinated bombing of four

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s that caused in the deaths of 27 people and injured over 200 others in

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

on 6 December 2002. The bombing was carried out by Jama’atul Mujahedeen Bangladesh.

Background

The attack happened two months after a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

and cinema were bombed in

Satkhira Satkhira( bn, সাতক্ষীরা) is a city and district headquarter of Satkhira District in Khulna Division, south-west Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. I ...

, Bangladesh. The attacks took place while the anti-crime

Operation Clean Heart Operation Clean Heart was an anti crime operation carried out by Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Rifles, Bangladesh Police and Bangladesh Ansar members in Bangladesh. The operation was carried by the government of Bangladesh headed by ...

was ongoing. Soldiers from the operation were involved in the rescue and first-aid efforts. After the explosions, a bomb was found in

Gaibandha Gaibandha ( bn, গাইবান্ধা) is a town and district headquarters of Gaibandha District in northern Bangladesh. It is a centre of commerce and trade of the Gaibandha District and is located under the Rangpur Division. The area of ...

, Bangladesh.

Attack

The attacks took place following the Eid holidays, which meant the movie theaters were filled. On 6 December 2002 there were four simultaneous explosions in four different movie theaters.

Trial

In 2007,

Bangladesh Police The Bangladesh Police ( bn, বাংলাদেশ পুলিশ) of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a law enforcement agency, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace, and enforcement ...

charged three people with the crime. It also dropped the names of 43 people from the investigation which were added during the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the major ...

Government including members of then opposition party

Bangladesh Awami League Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and journalist. As of 2017, there has been no verdict in the case and the victims have not received any compensation.

Reactions

The

Prime Minister of Bangladesh The Prime Minister of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী, translit=Bangladesher Prodhanmontri), officially Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজা� ...

Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...

, blamed the opposition party

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

and described it as a planned attack to destabilize the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em 2002 in film 2002 murders in Bangladesh 21st-century mass murder in Bangladesh Attacks on buildings and structures in Asia Attacks on cinemas December 2002 crimes December 2002 events in Bangladesh Explosions in 2002 Islamic terrorism in Bangladesh Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002 Improvised explosive device bombings in Bangladesh Mass murder in 2002 Massacres in Bangladesh Cinema bombings Terrorist incidents in Bangladesh in 2002 Terrorism in Bangladesh Building bombings in Bangladesh