By Syed Altefat Hossain

DHAKA, March 7, 2025 (BSS) – Muzibur Rahman Sarker, a 57-year-old former migrant worker, had spent a major part of his life abroad to ensure well-being for the family and higher education for the three children.

His eldest daughter Maroya Rahman Sayma had completed her graduation by the time he returned home from Saudi Arabia during the Covid-19 period. Since then, Muzibur was eagerly awaiting Sayma’s convocation to witness the graduation completion ceremony as a proud father.

But his fate didn’t favor him since “he was brutally shot dead” on July 21 in front of Tushardhara High School, near Saddam Market Bus Stop on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in the city’s Jatrabari area during the 2024 July Uprising.

Muzibur’s elder daughter Sayma, however, completed her master degree from the Home Economics College last year while his second daughter Maymuna Rahman Sadia is currently an honors third year student at the same college.

His only son Md Mahibur Rahman Sarker is a 10th grader at a local school in the Tusherdhara area.
“Our father used to say he would attend three convocations—for all three of us. But he never got the chance,” Sayma said tearfully at an interview with BSS at their residence at Tusherdhara.

She burst into tears recalling how her father always took her to and from college. On July 16, Sayma stopped her father from going to college with her due to safety concerns as a terrifying situation was prevailing across the city following the massive crackdown on the protesters under the banner of anti-discrimination student movement.

“I wanted to protect my father. But I couldn’t. On July 21, police came to our area and killed my father,” she lamented.

According to Muzibur’s wife, Nurunnahar Parvin (44), that day started like any other. The family had lunch together before Muzibur left home for Asr prayers at Baitus Sharif Jame Mosque opposite to the Tusherdhara High School, near Saddam Market Bus Stop on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.

“I along with my daughters was sleeping when my husband left the house during the time of Asr prayers. We thought he might have gone to another building for watering at the rooftop garden before going to our local mosque like any other day,” Parvin recalled.

But she later discovered that Muzibur went to Tusherdhara Zero Point instead of going to that building and attended Asr prayers at Baitus Sharif Jame Mosque there.

Referring to eyewitnesses, Parvin said when Muzibur was stepping out of the mosque, police were firing bullets indiscriminately.

As he was unaware about the situation outside the mosque, soon after he exited the mosque, a bullet pierced his chest and exited through his back when he immediately fell onto the street.

Amid the chaos, no one dared to rescue Muzibur from the street, Parvin recalled, her voice trembling.

She said only after the police left the scene a rickshaw-van puller gathered the courage to rescue him and bring his lifeless body home.

When the rickshaw-van puller brought the body in front of their home, Parvin recalled one of the renters in their building screaming, saying, “Parvin everything has lost”.

“But I could not understand the meaning. However, after getting down, when I saw my husband lying on the van, I still thought he was alive. I thought he might have received minor injuries as his eyes were open and stared at me lying on the van,” Muzibur’s grief stricken wife recalled.

“Still it floats before my eyes how my husband stared at me lying on the van. However, at one stage the van-puller told me that my husband had died on the spot. Hearing it, I lost my consciousness immediately,” she shared, recalling the heartbreaking moment.

However, with a curfew imposed and members of law enforcement agencies allegedly making bodies disappear, locals advised the family to bury Muzibur immediately.

“We primarily wanted to take the body to our ancestral home at Gajaria Upazila in Munshiganj. No ambulance agreed to transport the body. On the other hand, our neighbors advised us to bury the body as soon as possible, saying police would take the body away,” Parvin recalled with grief, saying that no family member and relative could have their last glimpse of him.     

Later, the family laid Muzibur to his eternal rest that night at Tushardhara Graveyard.

Recalling the heartbreaking moment, Sayma said they had a good conversation on that day with her father. “We never thought that my father would die on that day. My father went to the mosque to offer prayers but he returned home as a corpse,” she lamented.

Sayma said police never entered the Tusherdhara area before and after July 21. They entered the area only on that day and killed her father.

Recalling how their father was affectionate to them, Sayma said in a sobbing tone, “Our father never allowed us to do any work. He took care of us. He fulfilled all our needs before we asked for those. He had a dream of seeing me doing a job. We now badly miss our father”.

Sayma said she herself informed their relatives that her father was no more as there was no other male member in their family.

“It was very painful for me to inform our relatives that my father was no more,” she wailed.

Muzibur’s younger sister, Maymuna Rahman Sadia, echoed the pain. “My father was gone within 20 minutes he left the home for the mosque to offer Asr prayers. We didn’t even have the chance to mourn properly as we were very concerned about our father’s burial. We had to handle his burial alone,” she said in a heavy voice.
The family now pleads with the government to preserve Muzibur’s grave so they can visit the grave whenever they wish.

Parvin urged the government to give a job to her elder daughter to help sustain the family.

“The government should support all Shaheed families,” she said.

Muzibur’s family now demands justice. “I filed a case with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The real culprits must be punished,” Nurunnahar demanded.

His daughters also sought speedy trial. “We want exemplary punishment so police could never dare to kill innocent people again,” Maymuna declared.