By Syed Altefat Hossain

DHAKA, Jan 6, 2025 (BSS) – “If I die, you will be the proud mother of a martyr,” Md Rezaul Karim’s mother Rashida Begum quoted her son as he replied to her when she barred him from joining the anti-discrimination student movement.
 
Rezaul, a 16-year-old seventh grader at Mirhazirbag Adarsha High School, was shot dead near the toll plaza of Mayor Hanif Flyover at Kutubkhali in the city’s Jatrabari area around 5pm on August 4 when he joined the movement along with thousand others.
 
Though the student movement started demanding just quota reformation in government jobs, it eventually turned into a student-people uprising against the fascist approach of the then government towards the student protesters.
 
Rezaul embraced martyrdom just a day before the movement became successful in ousting  nearly 16 years of autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country on August 5.   
 
Rezaul’s mother burst into tears as this correspondent approached her for some words about her martyred son in their Mirhazirbag area residence at Jatrabari in the city recently as she was overwhelmed by the loss of her only son.
 
“Among our three children, Rezaul was our only son. How would we endure the pain from this loss?” Rashida weighed down by grief.
 
Their elder daughter Fatematuz Zohra (18) is a 12th grader while younger daughter Tanzila (10) is a third grader.
 
Rashida used to bar her son from joining the student movement fearing his safety as many people were being shot dead on the roads during the July movement.
 
Tears filled her eyes as she recalled how Rezaul, a bright and courageous boy, was deeply committed to the student movement.
 
“One day, when I asked him not to go to the movement. He replied “If I go to the movement what will happen? If I am shot dead, I will be a martyr and you will be the proud mother of a martyr”,” she said in a sobbing tone, adding that these words now haunt her.
 
Noting that Rezaul was a good boy, Rashida said he always focused on his studies.
 
Rezaul’s father Md Al Amin Mir, a 48-year old electrician, said his son was attending the street protest from the beginning of the quota reform movement.
 
“On August 4, my son along with his friends took part in the movement at Kutubkhali in the afternoon while he was shot by police around 5pm. But I came to know about his injury around 8.30pm,” he said with a heavy heart.
 
Mir recalled that someone called him and asked him to go to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where Rezaul’s body was kept.
 
“After reaching the hospital, I found my son lying lifeless on a stretcher in the Room No. 7 at DMCH,” he said, adding, he later discovered that Rezaul had received no treatment after being admitted there.
 
“Later, I retrieved the body of my son from the emergency department without any death certificate and brought it at our residence here at Mirhazirbag,” Mir shared as his voice was trembling with grief.
 
Describing the bureaucratic hurdles and insensitivity in the burial process, he said when they approached local councilor Habibur Rahman Habu for a death certificate, they were refused.
 
The councilor, however, assured them that they would face no harassment during burial, but the graveyard authority obstructed the burial on the next day (August 5), saying that they would not allow the burial until an investigation team arrived there, Mir recalled with endless anguish.
 
Desperate for help, Mir went to the Shyampur Police Station and asked the Officer-in-Charge (OC) to send an investigation team. But the OC declined to send any investigation team.
 
“When the OC refused to send any investigation team, I told him that I wanted to file a case over the killing of my son, but the OC declined to register the case too,” Mir said, adding that the OC asked him to complete the burial process with a certificate from the local councilor's office.
 
“Later, we again went to the councilor office and got a general death certificate with which we laid my son to eternal rest at Jurain graveyard,” he said in a sobbing tone.
 
“We are now traumatized losing our only son. I can’t pay attention to my work since my son’s death. His mother cries every night for him,” Mir said in a composed tone while he was observed controlling his emotion.
 
Rezaul’s friend Md Rakib remembered him as a brave and loyal companion. Their bond grew strong despite attending different schools in the same neighborhood. “Rezaul was one of my best friends,” Rakib shared.
 
On that fateful day, Md Rakib was with Rezaul near the toll plaza, chanting slogans for justice. He recalled that around 5pm, Rezaul was shot from behind.
 
“Soon after being hit by the bullet, Rezaul collapsed, and he was left in a pool of blood,” Rakib said, adding, later, they with the help of other agitating students managed to get an ambulance and rushed Rezaul to DMCH.
 
Rakib himself was hit by a rubber bullet during the movement on that day.
 
The death of Rezaul has left an indelible scar on his family and friends. His family demands   capital punishment of the killers.