By Syed Altefat Hossain

DHAKA, Nov 13, 2024 (BSS) -It is gifted bond as a mother is still confined with emotional memories of her beloved son, who embraced martyrdom on July 20 during the anti-discrimination student movement.
 
"I can feel heart-touching moments of my son . . . my son kisses me and hugs me. The memories connected with heavenly love are still hunting me," Kamrun Nahar, mother of Martyred Efat Hasan, shared her heart-breaking last moments spent with her son.
 
When Efat's mother Kamrun Nahar hugged him strongly on that day to stop him from going to the anti-discrimination student movement, he hugged his mother too and kissed on her forehead twice to convince his mother emotionally to allow him to go to the movement.

"Actually, you care so much about me. Don't worry Maa (Mom), I will not go far away, I will come back soon," Efat's bereaved mother quoted him saying, before he left the house around 12.30pm on the day.

Efat aged 16, a ninth grader at A.K. School and College in the Dania area of Jatrabari, returned home in the afternoon on the same day, but not alive as "two bullets fired by police pierced his chest leaving him spot dead" in the Shanirakhra area of Jatrabari here.

According to eyewitnesses, police shot Efat when he was coming out of a private health facility-Salman Hospital in the Shanirakhra area- after helping an injured person to get admitted to the hospital.

"My son went out of the house with sound health, giving two kisses on my forehead. But I could not think it would be his final farewell.... I can't forget the scene of his kiss on my forehead," she said.

"This image floats before my eyes even when I am awake," Kamrun Nahar burst into tears while she was recalling her last memory with her son.

In a recent interview with BSS at her rented residence at Rasulpur in the Kajla area of Jatrabari, she said Efat was very much compassionate to the student protesters since the beginning of the movement. He joined the movement on July 18 and 19 too.

"I used to give a blow on his head reciting the Ayatul Kursi (an important verse of the Holy Quran) whenever he went out of the house.

" I also gave a blow on Friday when he was going to the movement," Efat's sobbing mother said.

Efat was Kamrun Nahar's only son among her three children including two daughters. Her elder daughter Umme Salma Efti is studying at the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) while her younger daughter Tazriya Alima (5) is yet to enroll in school.

Since her banker husband Rabiul Amin Khandoker died of a cardiac arrest in 2022 at the age of 50, Efat had emerged as the last resort for her.

After returning home from the movement on Friday (July 19) evening, Efat narrated the situation on the streets to his mother and said two boys were shot dead in front of him on that day.

"At that time I told him, please, my beloved son, don't go outside. Please, don't go. I have nothing except you," sobbing Kamrun Nahar recalled her plea to her son, saying, "But I could not stop him from going to the movement."

She, however, said Efat never went outside of the home without informing her as he knew that his mother felt unstable whenever he went out of her sight since his father's demise.

When she wanted to bar him from joining the movement, Efat used to tell her that children of many parents were also taking part in the movement to bring an end to the anarchic situation through which the country is going.

"If we all stay at home, the movement would not bring any outcome, rather the country will be deadlocked," Efat said.

"Many people, including students and children are being killed by members of law enforcement agencies," weeping Kamrun Nahar quoted her son as he told her to convince her over his participation in the movement.

She said Efat, however, used to tell her that he would not go to movement from the next day, "but the next day did not come until his martyrdom".

Recalling her struggle to continue studies of her children, Kamrun Nahar said her relatives, including Efat's paternal and maternal uncles, extended their cooperation to this end.

"Efat was my only son. I had many dreams centering him. How could they fire bullets on my innocent son's chest?" Efat's sobbing mother said.

Noting that her mind was very unstable since Efat left the house on July 20, she said, "Around 2pm or 2.30pm, I heard the sound of firing two bullets and stood up immediately, and told my elder daughter that I felt the bullets hit my chest.

"Where is Efat? Why didn't he come back?" she asked her daughters.

Efat's weeping mother said, "While I was walking from one room to another with a distracted mind thinking about Efat, the owner of our previous rented house informed my daughter over phone that Efat was shot by police and asked her to go to Salman Hospital".

But her elder daughter Umme Salma told her that Efat might have received minor injuries on his leg.

"Before we went downstairs, I saw Efat's friends were bringing him home from the hospital," Kamrun Nahar said in a heavy voice.

According to eyewitnesses, she said, police later wanted to take away the body of Efat while his friends chased them and took him to the hospital, where the duty doctor declared him dead.

Salman Hospital Manager Surovi Sohana told BSS that Efat was "brought dead" to the hospital.

As no one could ensure his identity, the hospital authority took a photo of Efat and sent it to the protesters so that they can confirm his identity, she said, adding, after confirming his identity, they sent the body to his home with the help of agitating people there.

The Salman Hospital is located adjacent to the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway near Shanirakhra bus stoppage, which was turned into one of the battle grounds from July 17 when people from all strata joined the anti-discrimination student movement following the death of six protesters, including Abu Sayeed, on July 16.

Asked about whether they have any evidence of chaos on the street in front of the hospital through CCTV cameras during the movement, Sohana said during the protest, police of Jatrabari Police Station seized hard disks of CCTV cameras of the hospital and harassed the authorities for serving the protesting people.

Noting that about 15 to 20 dead bodies were taken to their health facility during the protest, she said but the number of injured people was uncountable.

Efat's mother said seeing Efat's innocent body laying in the hospital, the doctors felt compassionate for him and managed to send his body through a narrow lane adjacent to the hospital, avoiding the police surveillance.

"I am fortunate that by the grace of Almighty Allah, I got the body of my son at the time when many people cannot even find the bodies of their nearest and dear ones, thanks to the doctors of Salman Hospital," sobbing Kamrun Nahar added.

"However, I still cannot compromise with my mind that why did I not go behind him on that day? If I went after him, he might have not gone to the streets," she said in an emotion choked voice.

Though Efat was too little to see dreams, his mother said he used to show his interest towards studying engineering.

Efat was meritorious and very attentive in his study while his hobby was playing cricket, she added.

Efat was buried at his village graveyard at Manpura village of Begumganj Upazila in Noakhali district on the night of his martyrdom.

Efat's mother has plunged into deep shock after losing her only son. She demanded justice of killing her son.