By Syed Altefat Hossain

DHAKA, Jan 26, 2025 (BSS) – After memorizing 12 paras (chapters) of the Holy Quran, 13-year-old Ahmad Abdullah got admitted to Munshigaj Patharghata Boro (Qawmi) Madrasah in April last year with a dream of becoming an Islamic scholar.

But his dream witnessed a tragic end as he was fatally “shot dead by police” on July 18 when he joined the anti-discrimination student movement at Kajla area of Jatrabari in the city.

Abdullah, a residential student at the Patharghata madrasah, couldn’t restrain himself from joining the movement when the student-led mass uprising ascended to the peak aimed at ousting autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina.

According to his family members, he left his Madrasah in Munsiganj in the morning on July 18 without informing his teachers or fellow students and joined the movement at Kajla directly after getting down from a bus at Jatrabari after Johr prayers.

Abdullah’s father Md Maniruzzaman recalled the harrowing night when he received the news of his son’s critical condition. 
 
 “I received a phone call around 9.30pm on July 18 when a student asked me to go to Anabil Hospital in the Kajla area, saying that Abdullah was taken there with bullet injuries. Until then we didn’t know that Abdullah had come to Dhaka,” he told BSS in an exclusive interview.  

Referring to the students, who took Abdullah to hospital, Maniruzzaman said his was shot six times while he was at the forefront of the demonstration. Witnesses said he was hit by three rubber bullets in the chest and three live bullets that pierced his left hand, waist, and leg.

Maniruzzaman said the student had told him that despite his injuries, Abdullah showed resilience, unwilling to leave the protest site.

“When the first bullet pierced through his leg, he didn’t leave the street rather he continued the demonstration. But when he was hit by more bullets and his left hand was riddled, he was taken to the hospital by some students,” he recalled with grief.

After taking Abdullah to the hospital, the students took his mother’s phone number from him and made the call while his father received it.

Abdullah’s grief stricken father said, “Shortly after he gave his mother phone number, Abdullah lost his conscience. Therefore, before I reached the Anabil Hospital, I came to know that he was taken to Dhaka Medical”.

Maniruzzaman recalled that he and his brother-in-law (sister’s husband) faced numerous obstacles while trying to reach Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), navigating roadblocks and chaos across the city.

Upon arrival at the DMCH, he said, they were denied entry to the hospital.
“However, somehow we managed to enter the emergency ward where we saw many bodies and many people screaming from injuries,” Maniruzzaman recalled, saying he didn’t find his son among them.

Later, he talked to a medical staff and described his son’s appearance and attire while the staff advised him to look in a room next to the emergency service where he found his son, but by that time Abdullah was gone.

“Seeing my son’s lifeless body, I lost my words. After crying for a long time, I called my wife to tell her our son was no more. Pray to almighty Allah,” the grieving father shared.

Maniruzzaman said their anguish did not end with his son’s death as they had to wait for two more days to get the body from the hospital following the police permission and medical protocol for unnatural deaths.

“Around 11.30pm, when I claimed my son’s body, the hospital authorities refused to hand it over, saying it needed police permission. They gave me a paper and asked me to go to Jatrabari Police Station,” Abdullah’s father shared his agony.

Maniruzzaman said when they went to the police station; they were not allowed to enter. But they were waiting outside the police station.  

“Around 1.30am, a policeman asked us to go home back, saying waiting in front of the police station would bring no result. He asked us to go to the station the next morning (Friday, July 19) around 10am,” he said, adding, later, they again went to the hospital and made an arrangement for keeping the body in the mortuary.

Maniruzzaman blamed that they were denied again to enter the police station on Friday (July 19) as at that time indiscriminate firing was continuing in the Jatrabari area.

“On Saturday (July 20) morning we again went to the Jatrabari Police Station when a police officer asked us to go to Dhaka Medical saying an officer had already gone there,” he shared.

Later, they received the body of Abdullah in the afternoon following the postmortem and laid him to his eternal rest at Matuail graveyard after Asr prayers on the same day (July 20).

Abdullah was second among three children of Maniruzzaman (44) and Mst Amena (35) with two others being Mariam, a married woman who lives elsewhere, and Anas (7), a 2nd grader at a Madrasah at Sheikhdi area of Jatrabari.

Hailing from Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur, Maniruzzaman leads his family doing seasonal business.

Abdullah was very caring to his family members; especially he was a devoted son to his mother. His parents dreamed of him becoming an Islamic scholar, a goal he pursued with discipline and passion. He was especially close to his mother, helping her with chores and sharing a bond that Amena said can never be replaced.

“We have a wish to make our son an Islamic scholar. We were raising him with that aim. But the bullets ruined our dream. When a bullet is enough to kill a person, my son was shot six times,” Maniruzzaman wailed.

Abdullah’s mother, Amena, is consumed by memories of her son. “Every room in my house bears his memories. If I plant a flower in the balcony, I remember how he used to bring soil for me,” she said through tears.

Rain now brings her indescribable pain. “Whenever it rains, I feel my son is lying under the soil in the rain. It is very painful,” grief stricken Amena said.

The youngest member of the family, seven-year-old Anas, misses his elder brother deeply. “My brother adored me. He used to give me chips, chocolates, and juice. He played with me every evening. Now, I miss him so much,” he shared and asked everyone to pray for Abdullah’s soul.

The family is now demanding justice for Abdullah. They demanded capital for those, including Sheikh Hasina, responsible for killing Abdullah.

“I want capital punishment for those, including Sheikh Hasina, responsible for killing my son. The trial should be an example so that no one dares to kill anyone like this in the future,” ” Maniruzzaman demanded.