By Syed Altefat Hossain

DHAKA, Dec 23, 2024 (BSS) –  Mahadi Hasan Pantho’s family had to face ruthless crackdown lunched by Awami League men as Pantho joined the anti-discrimination student movement and embraced martyrdom that sparked nationwide protest.      

Pantho, who was an HSC examinee from Government Tolaram College, Narayanganj was killed on July 19 when he joined the anti-discrimination student movement in Rayerbag area of Jatrabari in the city. In the published result of HSC 2024, he secured a GPA 3.17.

 “When we brought my brother’s body here for holding Janaza, some unidentified people put pressure on us not to keep the body here,” Pantho’s elder brother Maraj Hossain Pial said in an interview with BSS recently at their Paterbag residence in the Dania area of Jatrabari here.
 
Hailing from Louhajang Upazila of Munshiganj district, he said they have been living in the area for a long time and knew all the Awami League (AL) men. As such, the ruling party men used unknown people to put pressure on them.
 Even Imams or Muajjins of local mosques could not dare to provide dead body carrier due to the influence of Awami League men, Pial said adding  “At one stage, an uncle from neighborhood forcibly brought a dead body carrier from a mosque”.
 He said, however, the people, who were present at the scene, simultaneously countered the men and said Pantho’s body will not be moved from here for even a single minute and compelled the musclemen to step back from the spot.
 
“We also faced problems in burying Pantho’s body as we didn’t allow to do postmortem since we are practicing Muslims,” Pial, a third year (hons) student of Sonargaon Government College, burst into tears while recalling the fascist approach of the ruling party men.
 
Md Shojib Hossain Tapu, an eyewitness of Pantho’s martyrdom and burial process, said they contacted authorities of nearby graveyards, including Matuail, Jurain, Dania and Sharolia, but did not get any positive response.
 
“The graveyard authorities denied giving permission to bury Pantho. When we went to argue, they said they would not allow burial there without police clearance and postmortem report,” he added.
 
Tapu said finally the people who were present there decided to hold the namaj-e-janaza first and take the body to the nearest graveyard and bury Pantho there.
 
“Later, we took the body to the Paterbag Family Graveyard and buried there forcefully. As we were huge in number, the graveyard authority could not stop us,” Shojib said.
 
Pantho’s family members said they even faced Awami fascism after his burial.
 
“After two or three days of Pantho’s burial, DB police came to our house in the guise of journalists. After collecting different information, they confessed that they were not journalists, but DB police,” said Pial.
 
“We are collecting information about you. We found you are good people. But we have many files and documents about you, where your names are being inserted. We have nothing to do for you. We are bound to investigate about you,” Pial quoted the DB policemen while they were leaving the house.
 
He said if the AL government would have sustained, they would have to face huge trouble. “Therefore, we wanted the downfall of fascist ruler Sheikh Hasina at any cost. I used to pray to Almighty Allah, seeking the downfall of the autocratic government,” Pial said.
Pantho’s bereaved mother Shahinur Begum (40), a housewife, said she used to offer Tahajjud (special prayers regarded as very powerful to make any wish come true) and pray to Almighty Allah to oust the autocratic government.   
 
Early demise of a benevolent, compassionate and visionary juvenile:
Pantho’s mother in a heavy voice said her son was a very compassionate and benevolent personality since he used to distribute Iftar among poor people everyday in Ramadan.
 
“Whenever, I cooked delicious items, he used to say, “Maa, when you cook such delicious foods for us, Palestinian children are suffering from an acute food crisis. Why do you cook so many items?” she burst into tears recalling Pantho’s kindness.
 
After Pantho passed SSC exams with GPA 4.33, Shahinur Begum said they gave him a personal computer (PC). But he gave it to a poor friend, saying that he had no ability to afford a computer.
 
“Whenever, I felt sick, he stood beside me and used to say, “Maa, my little bird, are you feeling uncomfortable?” Pantho’s weeping mother said, adding, “My son always sought adoration from me. I had to pat on his head and back and kiss on his forehead whenever he returned from anywhere. If I forget to do so, he used to get angry with me”.
 
Noting that she didn’t want to allow her son to join the movement, she said, but when the student movement turned into a student-people uprising with the participation of people from all strata to protest the then fascist government’s crackdown on the protesting students, Pantho joined the street protest expressing solidarity with the agitating students.
 
“When I was reluctant to allow Pantho to join the movement as he was an HSC examinee, he became very emotional and was crying watching a video of beating a female student on Dhaka University campus by Chhatra League men and showed me a photo and said “Maa we need to stand by them,” Pantho’s sobbing mother said.
 
But when his mother did not respond to his humble request, Pantho joined the movement in the name of going to coaching.
 
“Pantho joined the movement four days without informing me. But on the last day, he left the house around 4pm after informing me. Before leaving the house, he kissed my hand and forehead. Sensing that he was going to movement, I was saying loudly that I will not allow you to go to movement so that his father can interfere and stop him from going outside,” wailing Shahinur Begum recalled the last memories with her son.
 
Recalling Pantho’s convincing words to join the movement, she said, Pantho used to say that people were being subjected to injustice. If all people did not stand together against the ongoing injustice, none could get rid of the crisis.
 
“If we all think that others will join the protest, I do not need to go; you will see none in the street. And some people who will really go to the streets will be smashed by the people of the fascist government,” Pantho’s wailing mother recalled.
 
Before leaving the house, she said, Pantho sought a clip to hide his long beard saying that if police sees beard and Panjabi, they arrest people labeling them as JMB members, an outlawed militant outfit in Bangladesh, and militant ones.
 
Noting that Pantho had a dream of going to Japan after completing his study, Shahinur Begum said, “I told him I don’t want to allow you to go to the movement because if you are arrested you could not go to Japan. But he didn’t listen to me”.
 
She said Pantho made a promise to her that he will stay far away from the protest ground and will return by Magrib prayers. But he didn’t keep his words, Pantho’s weeping mother said.
 
About Pantho’s last meal, she said after coming from Jum'ah prayers, he took meal with his favorite Koi fish.
 
Noting that she used to feed her, she said, “He never had meals with his own hand, but on that day he ate with his hands as he was excited to go out to join the movement. My son, however, applauded me for the curry on that day”.
 
Recalling his intimacy with Pantho, his brother Pial said before suspension of the internet service countrywide, Pantho was shocked watching the videos of beating the protesting students on DU campus. Therefore, he joined the movement and actively participated in distributing foods, biscuits and water among the agitating students.
 
“We also found dues of buying water, foods and biscuits in different shops in his name,” Pial said.
 
When the student movement turned into a student-people uprising on July 17, he said, Pantho became more desperate about what was going on in the country as internet service was suspended at that time.
 
“We had no faith in the media at that time. We witnessed many instances of yellow journalism during this uprising. Although we did not get the real scenario of the country, the situation was more terrifying than our imagination,” Pial added.
 
He said, on the evening of July 18, hearing the news that his friend Nayem was shot dead, Pantho was very agitated.
 
“But the irony of fate was in the next evening (of July 19) he himself was shot dead,” sobbing Pial said, adding, when his mother was asking him to bar Pantho from going to the movement, he told his mother, “Maa, we all should take part in the protest against the ongoing anarchies in the country”.
 
A horrific scene on the street:

Md Shojib Hossain Tapu, an eyewitness and Pantho’s brother’s friend, said they were staging the demonstration in front of Swapna Super Shop at Rayerbag around 5.30pm on that day.
 
“As police were firing bullets and tear shells indiscriminately at that time, we were hiding ourselves under a collapsible gate. I saw a policeman targeting me and pointed his finger at me to shoot. Therefore, I moved away, but the bullet pierced through Pantho’s mouth as he was just behind me,” he said.
 
According to eyewitnesses many terrorists of Chhatra League and Jubo League were also present on the streets with police.
 
Pantho died immediately on the spot, he said, adding, “When I went to rescue Pantho, a bullet passed slightly hitting my leg. After seeing his face, I called my friend Pial and after verifying some information I confirmed that the body was Pantho’s”.
 
He said he asked Pial to go to Salman Hospital in Dania Uttar area adjacent to Dhaka-Chattogram Highway as they took the body to the hospital where the doctor declared Pantho “brought dead”.

Responding to his friend’s call, when he was going to Shanirakhra, Pial said he saw the presence of huge number of people on the street while lampposts were twinkling, giving a feeling that “we were watching a horror movie in the cinema hall”.
 
When police shot, the people were running aimlessly and soon after they were assembling time and again, he said, adding, but people were not afraid of firing or killing while a terrible situation was prevailing on the street.
 
“Reaching the hospital, when I saw my brother’s body covered with a big national flag, I lost my words to express anything” Pial burst into tears while recalling the heartbreaking incident.
 
Later, his friend Tapu called Pantho’s parents to come to the hospital.
 
Everyone of the family is traumatized:

Pantho’s father Md Jahangir Hossain (60), a clothing store owner, in a heavy voice said, “We have been traumatized since our son’s death. We cannot forget him even for a single minute”.
 
“We have become living corpses at his demise. His mother has been sick since his death. There is no sign of recovering,” Pantho’s weeping father said.
 
Pantho’s brother Pial said it was beyond his imagination that such an unwanted incident could separate them.
 
“I saw many people die in front of me during the movement, but I could never imagine that my brother could be a corpse like them,” wailing Pial said, adding, even after four months of Pantho’s demise, he still feels the existence of his brother.
 
“I still dream him in my sleep and feel that my brother is alive. I feel his existence on the bed beside me, but when I extend my hands to touch him, I feel the empty bed,” Pial was crying like a child when he was sharing his heartbreaking feelings.
 
While visiting Pantho’s house, it was seen that his blood-stained shirt, bed cover with which he was covered, the towel with which his wounded place was tied, his tablet PC and some of his books have been preserved by family members.
Pantho’s mother burst into tears while she was showing his belongings.
 
About holding the trial over Pantho’s killing, his wailing father said, “We had promised not to seek trial from the AL government since they killed my son. As the government has changed, we now want exemplary punishment of those who killed the people during the movement so that the martyrs’ families get peace in their mind”.

 He urged the government to speed up trial process for ensuring capital punishment of those people who are involved with mass killing.