Mass uprising in July: heartbreaking story about Antor’s mother

BSS

November 2, 2024, 12:10 PM

Last modified: November 2, 2024, 12:15 PM

15-year-old Antor was murdered on August 5. Photo: BSS

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15-year-old Antor was murdered on August 5. Photo: BSS

Darkness had engulfed Hamida Banu’s life and for a while she lost her hope of survival in the world when her husband left her along with nine-month-old Antor.

However, this harsh reality developed Hamida into a struggling mother who sacrificed her life with the promise of making her son an enlightened citizen. Almost Asharaful Islam Antor became the sole cause of her survival in the world.

Antor, 15, became a Hafez-e-Quran when his mother invested all efforts and sacrificed all personal needs. But suddenly the assassins’ bullets tore away Hamida’s “everything” forever as Antor embraced martyrdom on August 5.

On August 5, police shot at cheering people as they celebrated victory after the fall of autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina.

“Ever since my husband left me along with my son, I have invested all my efforts to make my son a worthy one. I used to travel on foot from Kamrangirchar to my workplace in New Market to save money and support my son’s education to ensure,” said Antor’s relatives. mother.

Hamida broke down in tears as she recalled her struggle during an interview with BSS recently at her residence in Dogair area under Demra police station in Jatrabari area of ​​the city.

Since it was difficult for Antor’s mother to care for her child as she had to work outside, he grew up in his (maternal) grandmother’s house in the Dogair district, while all his maternal aunts helped raise him.

One of Antor’s aunts, Khuku Moni, said in a deep voice, “My sister sacrificed her whole life for Antor. She did not marry for nine years since her husband left her while she was thinking about Antor’s future. But we forced her to get married six years ago. “.

She added, “Although we raised Antor, his mother bore all his expenses to work outside.”

Antor’s weeping mother Hamida said she had worked hard to raise her son, adding: “I have admitted my son to the Holy Quran Madrasah at the Hifz department, where children from affluent families study.”

However, she recalled the contribution of her current husband Ferdous Khan, a Malaysian expatriate, in conducting Antor’s studies at the Holy Quran Madrasah.

Hamida said Antor dreamed of joining the Bangladesh police. So, in January this year, she enrolled him in class seven of the Siddique-e-Akbar (RA) Institute in Dogair region.

“I made my son Hafiz with a dream that he would perform my namaj-e-janaza (funeral prayer), but the bullet fired by the police ruined my dream. Now who will carry my body to the grave, perform namaj-e-janaza out and make dowa for me?” Hamida said, sobbing.

“I never thought that my son would leave me at such a young age. My son would have been a worthy citizen of the country. But brutal murder reduced my achievement to zero,” Antor’s weeping mother added.

About Antor’s involvement in the anti-discrimination student movement, Khuku Moni said they were not aware that Antor regularly participated in street protests.

“We knew it from others. But when we asked him, he never confessed. One day we got proof of his involvement in the movement,” she said, adding that Antor’s mother wanted to hit him at the time, but she forbade her.

“Today I feel like I made a mistake by stopping his mother from hitting him. If I had let her mother be beaten, Antor would have stayed with us. He would not have left us at this young age,” said a weeping Khuku Moni.

She said Antor went to the demonstration again on August 4 and told his friends, “I don’t know if I would return or not.”

“On that day, when Antor came home, I scolded him and asked him not to go out because many people were shot dead,” she said, adding that on August 5, after a meal around noon or 12:30 p.m. secretly out of the house.

Since then, Antor remained missing until August 7, Khuku Moni said, adding that during this period she randomly searched for Antor near the Jatrabari area but did not get any trace.

“It was beyond our imagination that he could have died from a gunshot, so we didn’t search him in hospitals until August 7. But on August 7, my mother and I started looking for him in all the hospitals. But we couldn’t find him.” him, we became more tense,” she said.

At one point, a student, who was directing traffic in Shanir Akhra, took Khuku Moni to Dania College with a photocopy of the school identity card and a photo of Antor.

Then the student suggested that she go to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and Mugda Medical College and Hospital, saying that the bodies of those shot dead in Shanir Akhra area had been sent there.

As they did not find Antor at Mugda Medical College and Hospital, they came back home.

“Meanwhile, my cousin Hridoy (son of elder sister) gave a status on his Facebook mentioning that Antor is still missing since August 5. And after this status, we got information that Antor was no more. His body was in DMCH Khuku Moni said.

Noting that they knew nothing about the scene of his death, she said in a deep voice, “When we received the body, we saw signs of two bullets: one in the center of his chest and another in his leg. video with which we confirmed that Antor was shot dead by police.”

The video showed police coming out of Jatrabari police station in troops, chasing the protesters on the streets and shooting them like birds. At that time, Antor tried to hide under a pillar of Mayor Hanif Flyover opposite the police station to escape bullets, but failed.

Khuku Moni cried as she showed a photo of Antor that showed her cousin smiling even after his death.

Recalling the suffering to get the dead body, she said the DMCH authority did not give them a death certificate in Antor’s name but an unidentified death certificate, with which they buried Antor at the Dogair cemetery.

Antor’s relatives urged the government to take steps to permanently preserve the graves of martyrs and demanded a trial for all murders, including Antor’s, during the mass uprising of the student population.