Marzina Begum was left speechless after losing her son, Ramzan Kazi – the sole breadwinner of the family — during violent attacks and clashes surrounding the National Citizen Party (NCP) rally in Gopalganj on Wednesday.
Sitting beside her, Marzina’s mother Rehana Begum was comforting her grieving daughter. She said Ramzan was the only earning member for the family. Rehana claimed that Ramzan had no political affiliations, while demanding justice for her grandson’s killing.
Standing nearby, Ramzan’s uncle Kalim Munshi broke down in tears while speaking about his nephew. “My nephew used to work as a construction worker. He was not affiliated with any political party. What crime did he commit to be shot dead like this?” he said.
The uncle also expressed concern about the future of the family. Kalim Munshi said, “Ramzan’s father is disabled and earns a little by driving a van for a certain time a day. It was Ramzan who used to bear the family expenses. Now, who will take responsibility for the family? Who will look after his helpless parents?”
Regarding the killing, he said, “I saw my nephew being shot in a video. I rushed him to the hospital, but could not save him. When we took the body to the police station, we found the gate closed. Later, we brought the body back to the hospital for autopsy.
But the hospital staff said, "You better take the body home. There could be trouble here.’ We could not even manage to have a post-mortem done.”
Ramzan is from Horinahati village of Kotalipara upazila in Gopalganj. His father, Kamrul Kazi, moved to Gopalganj about 20 years ago. The family now lives in a rented house in the BSCIC area of the town.
Deepto’s mother mourns holding her son’s clothes
At around 2:30pm on Thursday, Biva Rani Saha, mother of Deepto Saha, who was also killed in the same incident, was seen sobbing at home while holding her son’s clothes and reminiscing about him. Upon seeing journalists, she said, “Can you bring my son back? If you can’t, what is the point of talking? Why was my son killed? What crime did he commit?”
Deepto Saha was the son of Santos Saha from Udayan Road in Gopalganj. His brother, Sanjoy Saha, told Prothom Alo, “We two brothers were cloth traders. Like every other day, my brother went to his shop. When he noticed the deteriorating situation in town, he closed the shop and stood nearby. While trying to take shelter elsewhere due to dispersal by law enforcement agencies, he was shot near the mosque of the Gopalganj Government College.”
“The bullet pierced through the right side of his abdomen and exited through the left,” he said. “On information, our cousin rushed him to the 250-bed general hospital in Gopalganj, along with others. But my brother could not be saved.”
The last rites of Deepto were performed the same night at Gopalganj municipal cremation ground, he added.