As Bangladesh jubilantly celebrated the unveiling of another mega project, the much-awaited mass rapid transit ‘Dhaka Metro Rail’, it also solemnly recalled the seven Japanese engineers and consultants who died in the gruesome Holey Artisan Bakery attack in July 2016. With the launch of a section of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 on December 28, 2022, Bangladesh embarked on a new era of public transport with electricity-powered metro rail that will change the way people travel in one of the most congested cities in the world. A plaque at a newly inaugurated metro rail station honours the seven Japanese engineers and consultants, who were in Bangladesh to set in motion the construction of the Dhaka Metro Rail, and were among those taken hostage and brutally murdered by armed militants on that fateful night of July 1, 2016. Also read: Metro rail to start 30 mins later, add Pallabi station from Jan 25 The terror attack by jihadis of the Neo-JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) raised severe doubts on Bangladesh’s growth trajectory, with security of foreign nationals coming here to supervise overseas-funded infrastructure projects like the Dhaka Metro Rail emerging as a key issue. The Bangladesh Government, led by PM Sheikh Hasina, bravely kept its focus on development despite the violence unleashed by jihadi radicals, often backed by the country’s Islamists. Of the foreigners killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery, two women and five men were Japanese nationals. Only one of the eight Japanese experts in Dhaka for the metro rail project made it out of the Holey Artisan Bakery alive. Read More: Dhaka Metro Rail Uttara to Agargaon Route: A Detail Overview Tomaoki Watanabe, who was hospitalized after being shot, was one of four employees from Almec, a transportation consultancy firm with offices in Manila, Hanoi, Jakarta and Ulan Bator, according to its website. The other three – Yuko Sakai, Rui Shimodaira and Makoto Okamura – were killed. Okamura’s father, Komakichi Okamura, told Japanese media that his 32-year-old son’s death was “unbearable as a parent”. Another victim, Koyo Ogasawara, worked for Katahira & Engineers International that has worked on projects in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. Read More: Foreign envoys remember those killed in Holey Artisan attack The other three were working for Oriental Consultants Global. They were identified as Hideki Hashimoto, Nobuhiro Kurosaki and Hiroshi Tanaka. Japan’s then PM Shinzo Abe, who later died in an attack in Japan, expressed “profound grief and anger” over the deaths of the Japanese nationals in the Holey Artisan attack. “We feel very indignant toward the perpetrators, because these people were working hard for the development of Bangladesh,” said Shinichi Kitaoka, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Kitaoka called for strong security for all Japanese nationals involved with the metro rail and development projects funded by the JICA. While terrorists carried out the heinous attack, the opposition rushed to manufacture a scare tactic – that the government had failed to check terrorism and Bangladesh was unsafe for foreigners. The opposition had itself launched violent street protests after boycotting the 2014 parliamentary polls. Read More: Govt satisfied with Holey Artisan attack verdict: Law Minister When the government resorted to some tough policing and hit back hard at the terrorists, neutralising nearly the entire top leadership of the Neo-JMB, including its Canada-based chief Tamim Ahmed, the same opposition started blaming the government for “blatant violation of human rights”. Taking on the colossal challenge of completing the Padma Bridge (despite the World Bank pull-out on corruption charges that could not be proven) and the Dhaka Metro Rail project (despite the terror attack) is thus part of a bigger story for the Sheikh Hasina government. The government stayed on the development course with single-minded focus amidst numerous challenges. Read More: FM thanks Japan for support in metro rail, other development projects Sources in the Japanese government have said that it was Bangladesh’s prompt counter-terrorism response that gave its funding agencies the confidence to carry on the metro rail and other projects in Bangladesh. At the opening of the Dhaka Metro Rail, PM Sheikh Hasina recalled the tumultuous times in her speech and paid tribute to the Japanese consultants who lost their lives in the Holey Artisan attack. “Though that attack put the work on hold for a while, finally it started again,” Hasina said, recalling the contribution of then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. These accomplishments have a much bigger message for the world: come what may, come hell or high water, Bangladesh is unstoppable. Read More: Metro rail to start 30 mins later, add Pallabi station from Jan 25

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the Holey Artisan Bakery attack, the deadliest night of terror in the country's history that saw 22 civilians killed, the majority of them foreigners residing in or visiting the capital's swanky diplomatic quarter around Gulshan-Baridhara. Commemorations among relatives and those close to the victims will therefore span the globe from Japan at one end to Italy at the other. Indeed, those are the two countries that suffered the most casualties. Read:Govt satisfied with Holey Artisan attack verdict: Law Minister Five heavily-armed young men who didn't fit the profile of your typical 'jihadist' executed the audacious attack, that clearly drew inspiration from ISIS, the global death cult and terrorist motherboard that was at the peak of its influence at the time. However investigators never uncovered any evidence of direct operational training or support from the caliphate's headquarters.  The unlikely militants, all in their late teens or early 20s, were not madrasah students from the hinterland, but rather city boys who grew up among Bangladesh's elite, having attended top private schools and universities in Bangladesh and abroad. Their pathways to radicalisation were not foreseen, are still not very well-understood, but would seem to have been abrupt and even rapid.     On the evening of July 1, a little after 9pm, they made their move and laid siege to the upmarket cafe popular with expatriates - a calculated choice that paid off with maximum foreign casualties. Initially they took everyone inside the café hostage before executing them based on nationality or religion. Some Bangladeshis were allowed to leave - one bravely refused to leave without his two foreign friends, and died with them. The victims included nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladesh-born American and two Bangladeshis. Besides, two police officers called to the scene were also killed by grenades during the first wave of the attack - this demonstrated how well-armed they were, and law enforcers subsequently backed off to wait for specialist commandos to come in and do the job, causing a nightlong standoff.  Thirteen people, including three foreigners, were rescued while 20 bodies of the hostages were recovered from the restaurant after a successful operation led by the 1st Para-commando Battalion, an elite force in the Bangladesh Army, the following morning (July 2). Read:7 to walk gallows in Holey Artisan Café case Five militants and one restaurant staff were killed and one suspected militant was arrested during the drive. Including the militants and two policemen, the total death toll was 29 from what is definitively described as 'Bangladesh's 9/11,' after the 2001 attack that brought down World Trade Centre's Twin Towers in New York, the most infamous terrorist attack of all time. A case was filed with Gulshan police station in connection with what still stands as the deadliest terror attack ever in the country. Later, the case was transferred to the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Twenty-one people were identified behind the attack. Among them, 13 people were killed in gunfights at different times. Read: Holey Artisan Attack: 8 accused brought to court Police pressed charges against eight people in the case on July 23, 2018. The tribunal framed charges against them on November 26. On December 3 last year, the trial began with the deposition of witnesses. On November 17 last, the tribunal set November 27 for delivering its verdict. On November 27, 2019, seven men were sentenced to death for their roles in the Holey Artisan café attack, the deadliest terror attack.