After protests sparked at most of the educational institutes in Dhaka and other parts of the country on July 18, Sheikh Fahmin Jafor told his father over the phone that he was coming home as there would be no classes and/or examinations at the college for the day.
鈥楾his was the last time I talked to him over the phone. But, I never thought then Fahmin鈥檚 coming home was metaphorical respective to his journey to eternity鈥�, said Fahmin鈥檚 father Abu Jafor, an assistant manager of an insurance company, while talking to this correspondent in their rented house in Rajshahi city on Wednesday night.
Fahmin, who passed his SSC examination last year and got admitted himself to Tongi Government College in Gazipur, was one of the nine people killed during the fierce clashes between quota protesters and law enforcers accompanied by ruling party men in Uttara on July 18 2024.
鈥楩ahmin, the youngest of three brothers, was the brightest since his childhood and hoped to be an engineer. But his hope along with ours is now scattered with the death of my son in police firing,鈥� Abu Jafor lamented.
He said that Fahmin was honest, bold and blunt from childhood and never compromised with any kind of injustice even in the family.
聽鈥業 had nothing to say but place a demand that justice must be ensured to the killing of my son. I also pray no more children of any parents is killed鈥�, he continued.
Fahmin鈥檚 brother Sheikh Fardin Jafor said that someone, using Fahmin鈥檚 mobile phone, contacted him first and told his brother there had been an accident and Fahmin was being taken to the Uttara Crescent Hospital.
鈥楾he caller did not tell me anything then that my brother had already died. I contacted my uncle and mother who lived in Dhaka with Fahmin to go to Uttara Crescent Hospital with some clothes. At 4pm, I came to know that my brother was killed at noon,鈥� he said.
Fardin, who has been preparing for university admission, said that there were over 250 marks of pellets all over the bodies of his brother and several rubber bullets on the head.
鈥楩ahmin was more than a brother to me. He was my best friend as well. We used to bathe, eat, and sleep together. Following his killing, I cannot sleep at night and I have been going through a severe mental pressure and have been taking medicine prescribed by doctors,鈥� he said.
Fardin said that Fahmin was a man of many talents. 鈥楬e wrote many poems at this age. As a child, he used to sit at home and open the remote control cars and put them back on himself. His wish was to study at BUET and become an engineer. But that dream of becoming an engineer from a young age ended in an instant in the hands of the police, he said.
The family members buried Fahmin at their native village Taratia under Atrai village in Nagoaon on July 19.
Fahmin鈥檚 eldest brother has joined a private organisation to support the family after completing his graduation from a private university.
