'The four of us will never be together again'
One night nine years ago Marufa Islam suddenly received an SMS on her mobile phone. Her husband Mofizul Islam (Rashed) had been arrested. Even before daybreak, Marufa set out to find her husband.
Marufa Islam never found her husband who had disappeared. Then she herself met with a road accident last Wednesday and died. The officer-in-charge (OC) of Mohammedpur police station, Abdul Latif, confirmed this to Prothom Alo.
Her relatives told Prothom Alo, Marufa has set out at 11:00am Wednesday from Hemayetpur, Savar for the Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) office in Lalmatia of the capital. She was crossing the road when a motorcycle hit her. She fell and was run over by a bus. A journalist took her to Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in a critical condition. She remained alive for two hours then finally succumbed to her injuries and died after profuse bleeding.
Other relatives of victims of enforced disappearance are in grief over her death. They feel that perhaps they too will pass away before the return of their missing loved ones. The relatives of victims of enforced disappearance and human rights activists rushed to Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital upon the news of her death.
This correspondent on Saturday spoke to Afroza Islam, coordinator of Mayer Dak, the platform of those whose relatives have disappeared. She said she had seen how Marufa has struggled with her small children.
Afroza Islam said, "This woman who had never even gone to the grocery store on her own, has been roaming the streets in search of her husband. She would attend all of Mayer Dak meetings. She would keep in touch over phone. With her husband missing, she was anxious about bringing up her two sons. She would often go hungry, with a single meal or just half a meal a day."
Marufa Islam's sons Saidul Islam and Ramimul Islam are now in Chandpur where she has been buried. Saidul was speaking to Prothom Alo about how their mother began her struggle on the night of 8 April 2012, searching for their father, and how she met her end.
Mofizul Islam had been senior vice president of Dhaka city Chhatra Dal. When he went missing, Saidul was in Class 8 and his younger brother Ramimul Islam was just two and a half years old. Mofizul would run a waste-fabric (jhut) business. He had left home at 11:00 in the morning as usual on that day.
At 8:30pm some of Mofizul's friends called their mother, recalled Saidul. They said he had been picked up by people claiming to be of the DB (detective branch) police. They wore DB jackets and carried walkie-talkies. After a struggle, they forced Mofizul into a microbus and drove away.
As soon as morning broke, Marufa Islam left the house in search of her husband. Carrying one son and holding the hand of the other, the next day she went to the Darus Salam police station, the Shah Ali police station, Mirpur model police station and the Pallabi police station. They told her that no one by the name of Mofizul had been arrested.
Upon the advice of the police, she then went to the DB office on Minto Road. Over there too she was told that no one was arrested by that name. She finally managed to file a general diary (GD) at the Darus Salam police station.
Ammu would believe that Abbu would return one day. Whenever she heard of a missing person turning up after a long absence, she would tell us about it. Even if Abbu returns now, we won't get Ammu again. The four of us will never be together again.Saidul Islam, son of a victim of forced disappeared
The next day she visited all the hospitals in Dhaka. She spent another day searching among the bodies in the hospital morgues. Next she went to the court.
Saidul said, she went countless times from Mirpur to the court in Old Dhaka, in the hope of spotting her husband, in case he was brought to the court after arrest.
Amid all this rushing around, one day Marufa realised all their savings had dwindled. She had to run the family with assistance from Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Mofizul's friends and sometimes from her parents. Eventually they shifted from the house in Mirpur to a cheaper place in Hemayetpur, Savar. And her search continued. There were shady people who would call and give her false information. She would simply rush to wherever she heard he had been seen.
After Saidul passed the SSC exam, Marufa arranged work for him. The 17-year-old boy began earning for the family while continuing his studies. Marufa would then take little Ramimul with her on her searches.
Whenever there was any gathering regarding enforced disappearances, Marufa would turn up with her son, along with a picture or placard of Mofizul. She does not want to let go of Ramimul. He does not remember his father. All he knew was his mother. He would eat with her, sleep with her. Now even after holding her dead body, he cannot believe that she is no more.
Saidul said, "Ammu would believe that Abbu would return one day. Whenever she heard of a missing person turning up after a long absence, she would tell us about it. Even if Abbu returns now, we won't get Ammu again. The four of us will never be together again."