By Syed Altefat Hossain
 
DHAKA, Jan 7, 2025 (BSS) –  Md Sakib Hasan, a 22-year-old BA pass course student at Dania College, joined the “Complete Shutdown” in the city’s Jatrabari area on July 18 during the anti-discrimination student movement. But he didn’t return home alive.
 
Sakib was “shot dead by police” at the pocket gate of Jatrabari on Demra Road when the then government launched a crackdown on the student movement demanding quota reform in government jobs that eventually turned into a mass uprising with the participation of the people from all strata.

 
The shocking incident has left an irreparable void in Sakib’s family, as they grapple to live with the devastating loss of their beloved son. Their heartfelt recollections reveal a story of a life filled with dreams, compassion, and service to others. 

Sakib was the younger of the two brothers while his elder brother, Mehedi Hasan (26), is looking for a good job after completing BSc degree in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) from a private university.
 
Sakib’s father, Martuza Alam (55), vividly remembered the day he lost his son at an interview with BSS at his Kajlarpar residence in the city’s Jatrabari area recently.
 
“My son was at home during Asr prayers while my wife was going to a doctor as she was suffering from pain in her chest,” Alam recalled, saying Sakib left the house soon after his mother went to see the doctor. 

As Sakib was giving primary treatment to patients at a local pharmacy in the Kajlarpar area after completing a two-year course, his family members thought he might have gone to his workplace. But they never thought that Sakib could join the student movement at the time when the members of law enforcement agencies were carrying out a heavy crackdown on the protesters.
 
“When I returned home after offering Isha prayers and my wife also returned from the doctor's chamber, she asked me to inquire about Sakib as she didn’t find him at the pharmacy on her way back home as there was huge disturbance on the road. Police were firing indiscriminately on people,” Alam recounted the heartbreaking moment. 

He said he immediately called Sakib, but an unknown person answered the call instead of Sakib, saying Sakib was shot dead and his body was taken to a hospital in the Kajla area.
 
“At first I didn’t believe him Thus, I called again and the same person received the phone and asked me to go to the hospital,” Alam shared with his heavy heart.
 
After rushing to the hospital, Alam faced the cruel reality as he found his son’s lifeless body on a stretcher there. A bullet had pierced through the back of Sakib’s head beside the right ear and lodged inside.
 
“It was a time of sheer terror when I was going to the hospital as at that time police was randomly firing live bullets along with tear shells and sound grenades, killing many people on the spot,” Alam recalled the horrific scenario on the road. 
 
Referring to the eyewitnesses, he said at that time police were taking many bodies away while some kind people saved Sakib’s body and took him to the hospital. Sakib joined the movement wearing his college ID card.  
 
“Without them, I could not bury my son,” Sakib’s bereaved father said, adding, Sakib was laid to eternal rest at Kajlarpar graveyard the following day, July 19.
 
For Perveen Begum (48), Sakib’s mother, the pain is beyond words. She tearfully recalled how Sakib had asked her to feed him lunch with her own hands that day. “I was sick, so I couldn’t do it. Now it haunts me that I couldn’t grant his last wish,” she burst into tears while recounting the memory.
 
Perveen recalled her last conversation with Sakib, which now feels eerily prophetic. “When I asked him where he would take me as I was suffering from chest pain, he told me to go to the streets and take a bullet, saying it would cure my pain,” she sobbed. 

The grieving mother also expressed her frustration and anger over the brutality of the police. “We raised our two sons with so much hardship, never thought we’d lose one of my sons this way,” she said.
 
Noting that Sakib was taking preparation for IELTS exam, sobbing Parveen said, “If my son remained alive, he was supposed to go abroad by the first week of December 2024”.
 
The loss of Sakib is nothing short of unbearable for his elder brother Mehedi Hasan too.
 
“He was my immediate younger brother. We grew up together. We were closest friends of each other,” Mehedi said, his voice heavy with emotion.
 
The duo had shared everything, from matching clothes to late-night conversations.
 
“Every night, when our parents used to go to bed, I waited for his return from the pharmacy and went to bed together,” Mehedi said in a composed tone while he was trying to control his emotions.
 
Sakib was not just a student; he was also a caregiver to his family and relatives, Mehedi said, adding, “He gave us primary medical treatment and even dreamed of starting his own business in medical products.”
 
He said Sakib’s memories still haunt him. “The news of my brother’s death had emerged as a bolt from the blue to me that broke our pair,” Mehedi said in a sobbing tone.
 
“At the death of my brother, we are left with memories and a deep void. Still when I go to the dining table, I feel Sakib will return and have the meal with us,” Mehedi said with an emotion choked voice.
 
Noting that during the Awami League (AL) regime, none can lead a good life, he said they are gone now, “but taking a heavy toll on our lives”.
 
“We never caused harm to anyone. But we don’t know why we have been exposed to such a cruel reality. I can’t accept my brother’s death in police firing when police are supposed to save people’s life and properties of the country,” Mehedi said.
 
The family demands capital punishment of the killers.

“I want a fair trial for my son’s death. This government must bring all the perpetrators to book so that no one dares to kill innocent people in future,” said Sakib’s sobbing mother.