Mir Mahfuzur Rahman ‘Mugdho’, a former student of Mathematics Department at Khulna University (KU), is not merely a name. He appeared to be a part of Bangladesh history as he embraced martyrdom joining the student-people mass uprising ousting the Awami League (AL) government.
KU teachers recounted the memory of Mugdho with a heavy heart narrating how he used to enthral the whole campus by his infectious behaviour encouraging others to be a good human soul.
On 18 July, Mugdho, 25, sacrificed his life in the police firing as he was seen distributing water among the students staging demonstration in the Azampur area of Uttara in Dhaka posing no apparent threat.
A bullet hit his forehead and pierced through his right ear when the police opened fire at the students.
Professor Md. Azmol Huda, head of the Mathematics Department under the School of Science, Engineering and Technology of KU, said Mugdho was excellent in analytical ability helping him achieve good results in Mathematics.
‘Mugdho’ graduated from the Mathematics department of KU as a student of the 19-batch.
“He (Mugdho) was undoubtedly an extraordinary student. In his freelancing career, he completed around 1,000 orders holding a 5-star rating on Fiverr, one of the best online workplaces in the world,” said Prof. Huda.
The KU teacher said Mugdho possessed by-born leadership qualities as he posed himself the best team player at any event of KU Programmes and helped the first-year students understand any lesson and ready assignment.
“In the early days of 19-Batch, on a tour of Mathematics Department, I asked the students to elect two coordinators to take responsibility and look after the younger ones,” Prof. Huda said in a sombre voice.
“I was astonished seeing it was Mugdho, one of the favourite students of teachers, whom he had seen earlier as a coordinator of many events,” he added with teary eyes.
Professor Munnujahan Ara of the same department said all the teachers and the students loved Mugdho overwhelmingly.
“All the teachers of the Mathematics Department loved his smiling face which was a symbol of innocence,” professor Munnujahan said, adding that sometimes when she rebuked him regarding any assignment in the class, he used to smile and that mitigated her temper. Strangely enough, on the very next day, he would submit his assignment with his famous smile.
Sorrow and sadness engulfed Munnujahan while recounting his memory as tears were rolling down her cheeks.
“He (Mugdho) was a brilliant debater of the department. He liked to play guitar. Even he played guitar in many departmental programmes in the KU,” she mentioned.
She also said Mugdho was very interested in riding a bike while she was showing some photos of him.
He intended to visit all over Bangladesh riding a bike and wanted to see how people were suffering in the villages and the remote areas of the country, Munnujahan continued.
“All of our teachers and students burst into tears with grief when we saw that Mugdho was shot dead while he was on the street of Dhaka saying “Pani lagbe, Pani” (does anyone need water)?” she stated.
After completion of his graduation from KU, Mugdho got admitted to Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) to complete his MBA.
Remembering Mugdho’s smiling face, Prof. Munnujahan said Mugdho’s classmates will go back to the classroom of BUP again but he won’t come back.
Earlier, Mugdho’s elder brother Mir Mahmudur Rahman Deepto reportedly said Mugdho was already dead when his friends brought him to Crescent Hospital.
He mingled with the students until his martyrdom to help the demonstrators, who were fighting for a just cause against the Awami League government, Deepto said, adding that from the young age, Mugdho always raised his voice against injustice and corruption.
Deepto also said that Mugdho was a unit leader in the Armed Police Battalion Scout Group and achieved the “National Service Award” from Bangladesh Scouts for his promising role in rescuing and evacuating people during the Banani Fire in 2019.