When Abdullah Al Mahin was five years old, he almost got lost while he was leaving the Shishu Academy. Police personnel posted outside the academy, fortunately, recognised him from his frequent visits and handed him over to his mother, Samira Jahan Moni.
Mahin was lost again when he was 16. But, this time, he was lost forever. He was shot at near Rajuk Commercial Complex at Azampur in Sector 7 of Uttara in Dhaka about 11:30am on August 4, when student protests demanding reforms in civil service job reservations spawned off an uprising.
He was the only child of Md Jamil Hossain Shohel and Samira.
Jamil, an expatriate, learnt of Mahin鈥檚 injury when an unnamed person answered his call to Mahin鈥檚 mobile and asked him to visit Uttara Adhunik Hospital. Jamil could then know that his son had participated in the student protests.
Mahin, shot in the head and the left eye allegedly by Awami League activists, was taken to National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital where he died on life support at 9:30pm on August 4.
He loved playing football and singing and playing guitar. He was a member of Khelaghar and Geetanjali Academy. 鈥楬e learnt to play guitar by himself,鈥� his father said on November 3.
Mahin, a student of Diabari Model High School, passed the Secondary School Certificate Examinations with GPA 5 this year. He then enrolled with the National Institute of Engineering and Technology to study computer science and technology.
Jamil who had lived abroad since 1996 in Singapore and Libya until 2020 returned home before Covid-19 broke out.
He was about to go to Poland and set a visa appointment with the Polish consulate in Kolkata in September. 鈥業 did not attend the interview. Now that my child is dead, who will I earn for?鈥�
Mahin was born in Diabari. And, it became difficult for his mother to live in the place as it constantly reminded her of Mahin.
After his death, the family moved to their hometown of Purohit Para in Mymensingh, where Mahin was buried on August 5, the day the Awami League regime was toppled.
The Directorate General of Health Services on September 24 said that after a preliminary investigation, it had listed 708 people having died in the protests and uprising.
