“Father, I will not live any longer. I could not fulfill your hopes. Forgive me. Give up all your demands on me, father. I will not survive any longer,” these were the final words of martyr Asifur Rahman to his father on his way to the hospital.
Shaheed Asifur Rahman, 17, was bleeding profusely when his father Md Azmat Hossain, 48, was taking him to a hospital in a rickshaw in injured condition.
Asifur was martyred in police firing while participating in the anti-discrimination student movement on July 19 last year in the Mirpur 10 roundabout area of the capital.
Asifur participated in the anti-discrimination student movement in Mirpur 10 area of the capital on July 19. He was shot in a joint attack by the police and activists of Awami League, Chhatra League and Jubo League around 6 pm.
Later, doctors declared him dead when he was taken to the hospital.
Talking to BSS at his residence on Abbas Uddin Road in Mehedibag area of Mirpur-10 in the capital recently, Azmat Hossain, said this while narrating the story of martyrdom of his much-loved son Asifur Rahman.
Azmat Hossain said, “My son did not do any politics. I used to work in a private business shop earlier. I had been renting a godown in Mirpur-10 for a year and running a garment and ‘Jhute’ business.”
On July 19, around 5:30 pm, Asifur joined the movement saying that he was going to meet his friends. He was later martyred in police firing.
While showing two pictures of Asifur in his mobile phone, Azmat Hossain said, crying, “My son used to work in a garment factory in Dhaka with me. My son was begging me so much to save him after he was shot. But I could not save him.”
“The murderer fascist Hasina killed my son by shooting him in the head,” said the lamenting father in teary eyes.
Azamat Hossain said, ‘That day (July 19), after offering Friday’s Jumma prayers, I, with my son, went to sleep together after having lunch. At around 5:30 pm, my son went to meet his friend.”
“But at around 6 pm, my son called and said, Dad, come quickly, I had an accident,” he said.
He said, “When I got the news, I ran and went to the area, but the shooting was still going on. After going there, I saw that my son was lying in the Aalok Hospital Ltd in Mirpur with a bullet mark on the right side of his head.”
Showing the hospital ticket, Asifur’s father said, “I took my son to the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital (SSMCH) in a rickshaw from Aalok Hospital Ltd.”
“At the SSMCH, the attending doctor and nurses bandaged Asifur’s head and asked me to take my son to the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital (NINH),” he said.
Azmat Hossain said, “When I took him there in a rickshaw, my son was crying in pain and said, “Abandon all the demands you have on me, father. I could not fulfill your dream. I will not live anymore.”
“Later, the on-duty doctors at NINH declared my beloved son Asifur dead,” the father said, sobbing uncontrollably.
He said, “I hired an ambulance from the NINH for Taka 3,000 and brought Asifur’s body to Mirpur. Later, I hired a truck for Taka 12,500 and left for the village home with the body at around 3:30 am and reached the village at 7:30 am the next day.”
While crying, he said, “My son was very calm in nature.”
Asifur’s village home is in Kerengapara village of Ramchandrakura union in Nalitabari upazila of Sherpur district. Asifur was the second of two brothers and four sisters. He lived with his father in Mirpur.
His elder sister, Arfin Akhter, 23, is married in Dhaka. His mother, Fazila Khatun, 40, lives in the village with her infant son and three other daughters.
Asifur’s middle sister is Airin Akhter, 13, his next sister is Maria Akhter, 9, his younger brother is Abdullah, 3, and his younger sister is Arifi Akhter, 2.
On July 19, there were massive clashes between the police and Awami terrorists and students and public in the Mirpur area, as well as the Badda, Pragati Sarani, and Rampura areas of the capital.
The police opened fire indiscriminately targeting the protesters. Asifur Rahman was shot at around 6 pm in Mirpur that day and died at 9:40 pm.
The next day, his body was taken from Dhaka to his village home and buried at the Kerengapara-Phulpur graveyard after the funeral prayers.
Shaheed Asifur’s mother Fazila Khatun told BSS over the phone, “My much-loved son’s hobby was to buy a bike. We didn’t buy it for him for fear of accidents. But my son died after being shot.”
She said, “My son was not affiliated with any political party. Yet, they shot and killed my son.”
She said, “My son was calm and quiet in nature. He was studying to become a Hafeez of the Holy Quran in a local madrasa. Due to financial hardship in our family, he took a job a year ago in a garment factory in Mirpur, Dhaka, with a salary of Taka 13,000.’
She said, “Asifur was the only source of income for our family. His untimely death has shattered all our dreams. I don’t know how we will find the strength to live now!”
Asifur’s cousin Anwar Hossain said that when the chase and counter-chase started in Mirpur around 6 pm on July 19, Asifur tried to take a picture on his mobile phone. At that time, he was shot in the head.
Regarding the trial of his son’s murder, Azmat Hossain said, “I demand that those who killed my son should be brought under trial. I want capital punishment of the killers so that no mother’s heart becomes empty in the future.”
Father Azmat Hossain filed a murder case against 201 people, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in this incident.
