‘Someone picked up the call and said, your son is dead’

‘Someone picked the call to my son’s mobile phone, saying your son is dead. Then I didn't even know I had reached Dhaka from Sandwip crossing the rough sea. I don’t want justice from anyone for killing my son, I would only seek justice from Allah…’

Bereft Mahabuber Rahman thus expressed his reaction. He is father of Mahamudur Rahman (Saikat) who was killed by police firing at Nurjahan Road in Mohammadpur centering quota reform protest on 19 July.

On Friday, Mahabuber Rahman showed his son’s pet named ‘Putu’ at his residence.

‘This is just an animal; this kitten has almost forsaken all food since the death of my son. It sits silently on the chair of my son.’

Before being shot dead, Mahamudur Rahman bought food for his pet.

Family members recovered the body of Mahamudur, with a bandaged head, at the morgue of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital. The reason of death was written as ‘gun shot’. Mahamudur was preparing for university admission after passing the HSC examination from Mohammadpur Model School and College.

Dhaka turned into a battleground on 19 July. Mahabuber Rahman was at his village home in Chattogram’s Sandwip. He was constantly keeping update of his son, who only once said he was at ‘General Store’, a shop the family owns near their Mohammadpur house.

The father could not finish talking about his son. He would never call his son by his name, rather affectionately call him ‘abbu’. He could not remember if he ever scolded his son.

Going back on the fateful 19 July, Mahabubuer Rahman said, ‘On Friday afternoon, I suddenly started feeling chest pain. I could not understand the reason for the pain at that time. Now I understand, as I am his father, I felt pain when my son was dying.’

Mahamudur would have turned 20 on 11 September. He bought a shirt for his father this Eid from the money earned from providing tuition. Father had worn the shirt before Eid day and told his son, ‘My Eid has commenced from today.’

Mahamudur Rahman’s mother Afroza Rahman was barely able to narrate her ordeal at first. Mahabuber sat beside his wife, embraced to console her, only to break down in tears himself. Mahamudur also bought his mother fabric during and gave her money to have it stitched by a tailor. That cloth is yet to be stitched.

Mother said Mahamudur had lunch after saying his Jumah prayer on 19 July and took the key of the shop. He came again once to say that one of his friends was shot on leg and left the house. The mother couldn’t talk with the son as she was saying her prayers.

‘Had I known this calamity is befalling on me, I would have confined him to the house.’

Mahamudur Rahman was the only brother of sisters Shahrina Afroz and Sabrina Afroz. They would fondly call him ‘Tuna’.

Sabrina received some video footage of that day, which indicated Mahamudur was killed at 3:37pm. Bullet entered near his ear and exited from the back of head. He collapsed as soon as being hit by a bullet. Some people took him to the hospital.

Sabrina said, ‘Why would the police shoot him? Even if they had to, they could have shot at his hands or legs. In that case he would have lived.’

Mahamudur was 6 feet 2 inches tall.

‘The bullet might not hit him if my son was not that tall,’ Mahabuber Rahman lamented.

Upon working as a diploma engineer in Saudi Arabia, Mahbuber Rahman returned to the country 7/8 years ago. In the last one year, he was struggling to meet ends from the income generated from the shop.

Mahmudur’s father had a hope that he would gradually take the responsibility of the family.

The members of the family expressed their anger about the situation after Mahamudur’s death. They said they did not file any case nor had an autopsy of Mahamudur as they don’t want to face any harassment.

64-year-old Mahabuber Rahman wants his son’s grave in Mohammadpur graveyard to become permanent.

An organisation named ‘Shoishob Mela Bangladesh’ has hung a poster in front of the house of Mahamudur. The poster expresses condolences over his death and also sought everyone’s blessings for him. Mahamudur’s father said his son would play gully cricket in front of the house.

Now, whenever he sees boys playing he starts looking for his son. He cannot control himself when he realizes that his son would never return to play cricket.