[1] The activists of Awami League who were rallying in the streets of Chittagong that day were attacked by the police during the regime of autocratic ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad.
On the other hand, Sheikh Hasina the chief of Bangladesh Awami League claimed that 33 of its activists were shot dead in that massacre.
In her March 17 rally of 1986 at Laldighi of Chittagong, Sheikh Hasina said: We have no plan to participate in the upcoming poll.
[7] Enraged Bangladesh Awami League later on August 29, 1987, refused to hold any talk with Ershad and locked itself in several clashes with the government.
On January 24 of 1988, Sheikh Hasina with a couple of Awami League bigwigs arrived the second largest city of Bangladesh, Chittagong in morning.
[8] Later she spoke in a public gathering organized by Chittagong metropolitan Awami League at Laldighi of the city in front of a large crowd.
Amid repeated request from Sheikh Hasina to stop firing, police did not pay any heed.
[8] The purview of the massacre were around Muslim Institute, KC Dey Road, Nandakanan, Amtola and Court Building area.