It was 18 July, Thursday afternoon at Jailkhana Mor intersection in Narsingdi city. The police were chasing the protesters who were demanding quota reforms. Brickbats were being pelted while firing was going on.
Class-nine student Tahmid Bhuiyan Tamim, 15, died on the spot after being hit by a rubber bullet. The protesters were chanting slogans placing his body on a stretcher in front of them. At that moment, police fired again. The bullet hit Tahmid’s body as well.
Standing at a distance of about 100 yards, Tahmid’s father Rafiqul Islam Bhuiyan helplessly witnessed that scene. Several students among the protesters who were shot and went to the hospital to get treatment that day also gave the same description of the body being hit by bullets again to this correspondent of Prothom Alo.
Deceased Tahmid was a student of Nasima Kadir Molla High School and Homes. Tahmid was the eldest of the three siblings. His father is a village physician and mother a housewife. The couple has two younger daughters aged 13 and 3.
Protesters brought Tahmid’s body on a stretcher to the gate of the stadium in front of the Shaheed Minar (near Jailkhana Mor). Then shots were fired at them again. Tahmid’s father Rafiqul Islam saw bullet hit his son’s body again. As Rafiqul kept screaming, protesters pulled him inside a mosque.
Tahmid’s house is 300 yards away from the scene of the incident (Jailkhana Mor), in Nandipara village under Chinishpur union of Narsingdi Sadar upazila. Visiting Tahmid’s house on last Tuesday, a stretcher was found lying on the yard.
The stretcher was from 100-bed Narsingdi district hospital, stated the relatives. They said that Tahmid’s body was brought home on that same stretcher last Thursday (18 July) afternoon. It could not be returned yet because of the situation. Tahmid’s father has been in a dazed condition since that day.
Tahmid’s relatives said that all the members of the family ate lunch together on the day of the incident. While taking rest afterwards, Tahmid and his younger sister Linat, 13, were playing games on mobile phone. At one point, Tahmid went out of the house while his mother was working in the kitchen and his father was napping in the next room.
When Tahmid reached the street, a neighbour woman asked him, “Where are you going?” In response, Tahmid had said, “Just going to check what’s happening at the Jailkhana Mor.”
That woman had warned him against going into the chaos but, Tahmid didn’t listen to her. Finding Tahmid nowhere, his family members started looking for him.
Meanwhile, Tahmid upon arriving at Jailkhana Mor found himself among the protesters. Police had been firing at that time. It couldn’t be confirmed exactly where at the scene Tahmid was shot with the police’s rubber bullet.
The protesters took Tahmid to the emergency of 100-bed district hospital nearby. Right after the physician declared him dead they brought the body back on a hospital stretcher to the place of protest.
Superintendent of 100-bed Narsingdi district hospital ANM Mizanur Rahman said, “The students had brought Tahmid, shot with rubber bullet, dead to the hospital. Right away after declaring him dead, agitated students vandalised the hospital. We wanted to send his body to the morgue for autopsy. But, we couldn’t do that in the face of students’ rage.”
Getting out of the hospital, the protesters brought Tahmid’s body on a stretcher to the gate of the stadium in front of the Shaheed Minar (near Jailkhana Mor). At that time they kept chanting slogans placing Tahmid’s body in front of them. Then shots were fired at them again.
The district administration had told me to get a post-mortem done, but I didn’t agree. Police shot my son dead in front of everyone. What good the autopsy will do? I won’t get my son back.Rafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, deceased's father
Tahmid’s father Rafiqul Islam arrived there at that time. He saw a bullet hit his son’s body again. As Rafiqul kept screaming, the protesters pulled him inside a mosque.
When the shootings eased down a little, Rafuqul returned home with Tahmid’s body taking help of the students. Following two rounds of namaz-e-janaza at Tahmid’s school and at the local Eidgah, his body was buried without an autopsy at Chinishpur graveyard on Thursday night.
Tahmid’s neighbours and local residents are finding it difficult to accept such a death. This correspondent talked to at least 10 people of Nandipara village. In their words, Tahmid didn’t intentionally go to the protest.
Two of his cousins studying at Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University who were at home, didn’t also go to the protest that day. It’s strange, how he ended up there! He met this end just from going there out of curiosity. May be he had seen people he knew and joined them.
Rafiqul Islam Bhuiyan said, “The district administration had told me to get a post-mortem done, but I didn’t agree. Police shot my son dead in front of everyone. What good the autopsy will do? I won’t get my son back.”