The heaviest burden for a father is to carry his own child鈥檚 body to the grave. And many fathers carried that burden as their children fell in the student-led mass uprising that brought the downfall of Sheikh Hasina on August 5.
Jahangir Hossain, a clothing trader, is one among those many fathers, who lost his 18-year-old youngest son聽 Mahadi Hasan Pantho to the uprising on July 19.
Pantho, a Higher Secondary Certificate examinee from the Government Tolaram College, was hit by a bullet during the student protests near the Rayerbag bus stand in Jatrabari on the day between 4:30pm and 5:00pm.
鈥榃hat can be heavier on a father鈥檚 shoulder than the dead body of his own child? I did not have the strength to carry my child鈥檚 body.聽 Only a father knows how heavy his child鈥檚 body feels on his shoulders,鈥� said the disconsolate father on Tuesday as he talked about his martyred son.
鈥業 had two children. Pantho was a HSC examinee and sat for seven examinations. He stayed away from the movement as his examination was going on. But, what occurred to him on that day, I don鈥檛 know,鈥� said Jahangir, who is originally from Munshiganj district and lives with his family at Shanirakhra, on the outskirts of the capital.
On that fateful day, Jahangir along with Pantho and eldest son Meraz Hossain went for Friday prayers to a nearby mosque and had lunch together. Sometime later Pantho left home saying that he would be back soon. But someone from nearby Salman Hospital and Diagnostics Ltd called over phone at about 5:30pm to inform them that Pantho was bullet-hit, said the father.
鈥楾here are some mosques near our house. They refused to give a khatia (bier) for Pantho,鈥� said Jahangir. He also said that as they brought Pantho鈥檚 body from the hospital, some 10鈥�15 people came and threatened the family to move his body immediately.
鈥楲ocal people protested at them and managed a khatia for Pantho,鈥� said Jahangir, describing the grim days that
had visited on them at the time. His son was buried in the local graveyard that night.
The father said that the family鈥檚 financial condition was not good and his two sons helped him in the clothing business.
鈥楶antho dreamt to do higher education. That dream has shattered. I want justice for my child,鈥� said the inconsolable father, who was now preparing to file a case to ensure justice for his son.
The fierce protests, which the students began on July 1, flared up into a mass uprising towards the end of the month and overthrew the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, forcing her to resign and flee to India on August 5.
The Directorate General of Health Services on September 24 came up with a preliminary list of 708 people who died in the student protests and subsequent uprising. The figure was likely to rise, the directorate said.
