They said perpetrators of such a highly calculated and planned attack should be brought to justice to prevent a similar incident in the future.

Expressing their reactions on the eve of the second anniversary of the attack, leading jurists, academics, former bureaucrats and leaders of different opposition political parties severely criticised the government for its failure to investigate properly the deadly attack which killed 24 and injured over 400.

They said the attack was an attempt to eliminate the entire Awami League (AL) leadership including Sheikh Hasina.

"The present government grossly failed to carry out an effective investigation and to bring to justice the perpetrators of the grenade attack on Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina," eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain said.

Dr Kamal, also president of Gono Forum and Jatiya Oikya Mancha told The Daily Star that the failure of the government in this case imperilled national security. He also added that if a competent government comes to power, then it will be possible to bring the perpetrators to book.

Terming the attack as 'terrorism', Prof Muzaffer Ahmad, chairman of Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) said political violence will rise if the perpetrators are not brought to book through a proper investigation.

"In addition to the political government it is also the responsibility of the bureaucrats concerned to take necessary steps to arrest and punish those responsible for the attack," Prof Muzaffer said adding that the next caretaker government will have the power to arrest the perpetrators as the incident is on the high priority list of the home ministry.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haque Inu said the BNP-Jamaat alliance government in line with its conspiracy to exterminate the opposition and the pro-liberation forces carried out the grenade attack in an attempt to kill AL President Sheikh Hasina. He termed the incident as 'a big black smear' in the history of the country's political arena.

As the government itself had been involved in carrying out the attack to destroy the opposition and to stay in power permanently, it did nothing to find out the culprits, Inu said adding that the present government failed to prove that they had not been involved in the attack.

M Hafizuddin Khan, former adviser to a caretaker government, said it is very unfortunate for the nation that the government did not take any effective measure to identify and arrest the criminals, and to bring them to book.

"As the government claimed that the criminals who carried out the grenade attack are absconding in India, it should take measures to bring them back to the country and for this it should sign a treaty with India," Hafizuddin, also treasurer of TIB Board of Trustees told The Daily Star.

Mujahidul Islam Selim, general secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh accused the ruling Jamaat-e-Islami and its 'militants' of carrying out the attack as part of their 'conspiracy against the country'. "The government has not taken any measure to bring the culprits to book, only to stay in power," Selim said demanding immediate arrest and punishment of the perpetrators.

Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, former president of Dhaka University Teachers' Association, said the present government will never bring the culprits to book as it had direct support for carrying out the grenade attack which aimed to kill the leader of the opposition in parliament.

Prof Siddique also said the nation no more expect that the four-party alliance government will properly investigate the incident or will take actions in this regard. "The present government did nothing in the last two years and we don't expect justice from it as it has only two months left," he said.