No Eid for journalist Golam Rabbani’s family

Eight-year-old Rishad was supposed to roam around on Eid day. Two weeks ago, his family was annoyed with his wandering about, but there was no smile on this kid’s face on Eid. He doesn’t care not having new clothes for Eid. All that he wants is to see his father once again. Pointing to his father’s picture on the mobile phone and in a photo frame, little Rishad asked, “Will my dad never come back?”

Such was the Eid for the entire family of journalist Golam Rabbani, who was killed by a gang of criminals in Bakshiganj upazila of Jamalpur. There was no Eid celebration for the family. The entire house seemed deserted. Relatives were heard crying. This was the scenario of Golam Rabbani’s house in Golemerchar village in Bakshiganj on Thursday.

A group of miscreants attacked journalist Golam Rabbani on the night of 14 June while he was returning home from duty. He succumbed to his injuries at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital the next day. Golam Rabbani was the Jamalpur district correspondent of banglanews24 and the Bakshiganj correspondent of Ekattor Television.

Golam Rabbabi’s wife Monira Begum along with her two sons, Abdullah Al Mamun, 19, Rishad Abdullah, 8, and Rabbilatul Jannat, 18, broke down after the death of her husband. “This is my first Eid without my husband and this is also the first Eid for my children without their father. My youngest son is behaving differently. He falls silent, holding pictures of his father. Sometimes he asks will his dad never return. I can’t take it anymore,” Moinira Begum said. At one point she started crying.

Golam Rabbani’s daughter Rabbilatul Jannat said, “Dad planned to take us to Dhaka for Eid shopping. Since he is no more, what is our Eid then? Dad loved me the most among our three siblings. Whenever I wanted anything my father got it for me. Now there is no one to fulfill my wishes. Father was everything in my life. But, they killed my father brutally.”

Journalist Golam Rabbani bought a sacrificial animal last Eid-ul-Azha. He celebrated Eid with everyone in his village. Wife Monira Begum never thought her husband would be killed by criminals. Golam Rabbani even talked about Eid shopping with everyone in Dhaka several days before his death.

Monira Begum said, “Several days before his death, he told us he would take everyone to Dhaka for Eid shopping. But who knew he would be killed in such way. I only want to see capital punishment for the killers of my husband. If the killers are punished, the soul of my husband will be in peace. I want nothing else.”

Monira Begum filed a murder case with Bakshiganj police station against 22 people including the suspended chairman of Sadhurpara union parishad Mahmudul Alam alias Babul and his son three days after the death of Golam Rabbani. Some 20-25 unidentified people were also made accused in this case.

Thirteen accused including the prime accused are behind bars. Three of them including Mahmudul Alam gave confessional statement in the court admitting responsibly to the killing. Mahmudul Alam was the general secretary of Awami League’s Sadhurpara union.

This report appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna