Chintito
0222 22: News, Breaking or Devastating
Children fall prey to political violence.
The notification tone on the mobile is now a matter of great unease.
Passenger dies of burn injuries hours after miscreants bombed a three-wheeler in Savar ahead of hartal.
JCD man killed in cop firing at Patgram, Lalmonirhat.
Ten vehicles torched, over 50 bombs blasted, paramilitary BGB deployed in capital ahead of opposition-called 60-hours hartal.
Man hurt as bomb blasted in Katabon, vehicle torched in Motijheel on the eve of opposition-called hartal.
Three cops, newspaper journo hurt as two crude bombs go off near BNP headquarters at NayaPaltan.
Two Jamaat-Shibir men killed as cops retaliate when opposition men open fire on them in Kutubdia Upazila of Cox's Bazaar.
BNP man dies as cops open fire in a clash between opposition-AL activists in Mohammadpur Upazila of Magura during hartal hours.
Nine-year old girl severely injured as bomb goes off in Jurain, Hazaribagh.
OC hurt as Shibir men hurl bomb at him in Dhanmondi during hartal.
14-year old boy killed as pickets clash with law enforcers, AL men in Chandpur town.
BNP president of HarinakundaUpazila, Jhenidah unit bombed, knifed to death by unknown miscreants during hartal hours.
50 hurt as train derails after pickets uproot rail lines in Lalmonirhat.
Trucker dies when he loses control and his vehicle overturns after pickets throw stones in Satkania, Chittagong during second day of hartal.
Pickets stab dead AL man in Islampur Upazila, Jamalpur on the second day of hartal.
Forty hurt as pickets set fire to Rupsha Express, vandalise its window panes in Joypurhat..
Thirty hurt as pickets torch another train in Joypurhat.
Tea stall owner dies as Jamaat men cut tendons of his limbs at Zianagar in Pirojpur, home of war convict Sayedee, two hours ahead of hartal.
One killed, five hurt in a clash between AL men and BNP-Jamaat activists at Ishwardi Upazila of Pabna during hartal.
Pickets stab dead municipality-level Jubo League leader of Jessore during hartal. Four more hurt.
Jubo Dal activist killed, 10 hurt as cops being attacked open fire on them at NagarkandaUpazila in Faridpur during hartal.
11 vehicles, Jatrabari AL office torched in Dhaka, in a span of seven hours during opposition-called hartal.
Shibir leader dies, 12 including seven cops hurt as BNP, Jamaat, Shibir men clash with police in Rajshahi.
Two JCD, Jubo Dal leaders killed as lawmen open fire in Cox's Bazaar; Jubo Dal activist dies in clash among police, BNP and AL men in Chandpur.
Jubo Dal leader killed, two bullet-hit in Cox's Bazaar when BGB opens fire as BNP men bring out procession violating Section 144.
The above is a chronological narration, starting from the most recent, of victims of hartal as conveyed on 0222 22, the Daily Star's breaking news service over the mobile network since 25 October 2013.
Now one may argue as to who should take the blame, who said what, who provoked more, which side threw the first stone, or which group fired the first shot, the fact is several people have been killed. It will not be pragmatic to analyse how many from which party were dead, for those who have crossed over have no party; they are humans.
In the context of Bangladesh, the injured do not even make the count except to make up numbers in newspaper headlines and television scrolls.
I wonder how many of us who received the SMS of the dead remember that our handset carries the news still unless the over-sensitive have deleted the 'ghastly' matter.
I doubt if the Upazila or the town in which the boy and the men died has been any more sombre than the rest of the country.
I seriously question how many from the political party whose members died in the clashes, whatever may be the circumstances, have taken khoj-khabor of the dead persons' family. How are their parents doing? Has the wife any idea how she will cope with this tragedy? Did he leave behind any children? Will they be educated? Will they have to wait long hours to meet party leaders to get some help for their dearest, beloved father's martyrdom?
What about the 14-year old boy? Why should a fight among the grown-ups (are we really?) rob a child from his parents? Can his mother ever be normal again? Will his father ever again whistle the song with which he had put him to sleep? He has been put to sleep.
To those of us living, the SMS of one dead, five killed… is just that: a news item.
It is the family which understands the true pain of losing a dear one.
Soon after such a death, there is usually an attempt to politicise the killing by the vested quarters, but even that culture has lost wind among the public in the last few years. To them, it is just that: a news item.
After such a death, there are a series of matters to be taken care of. The painful task of informing the near and dear ones is most difficult. Buying the funeral cloths, arranging the bathers, organising the Quran reciters, deciding the Janaza prayer timing, shoulder carrying the body to the front of the congregation, the heart-breaking seeking of forgiveness from the devotees by the father or the son, the prayer, the final journey for he who was alive this time yesterday, the burial, and then… silence in the family, a stillness of the heart in unbearable solitude in the midst of many.
The father looks at nothing, the mother has water sprinkled on her head for the third time this hour, the child weeps holding on to his last birthday present. The silence is unbearable.
But, there is tremendous noise just outside the house of the dead, he who was able to make the news today; or a few yards away, in the next road or apartment.
Not much has changed in the six hours since Babu died. Only their world has changed, suddenly. The noisy skirmishes on the street continue seeking the next victim. The boisterous LIVE debates on our TV channels continue, as unprepared guests discuss issues beyond their comprehension. The loud arguments in our living rooms continue on how to run this country. They too did just that or could barely a few hours ago, but now they lay buried in white, forgotten, even before the next day's newspaper says 'Two dead in clashes…'
Even the littlest noise is deafening. They are ensconced in silence.
They weep alone forever, the near ones of the dead, they who made the news yesterday and today, but not tomorrow.
The alleged hartal pickets set fire on Dhaka-Chittagong highway on the second day of the 60-hour nationwide shutdown. Photo: Palash Khan
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