Human Rights
Ghosts of a Terrible Massacre
Ibrahim Khalil's grandfather only has an album to remember his grandson by. Photo: Prabir Das
For a moment, she felt her son's presence right there in her room. Kazi Nazma Sultana was sweeping the floor of her flat when it happened. All of a sudden, she could see a trail of footprints almost within her reach. It seemed as if her son had stepped on the floor a couple of moments back. She screamed in joy. Then stopped. Her husband reminded her that all she had seen was an illusion.
Remains of a massacre. Photo: Star File
“Mine is a body with no soul in it,” she muttered. Perhaps she had no better expressions to describe the agony of a bereaved mother. Two years ago, an angry mob killed her child Tipu Sultan and five of his childhood friends on the holy night of Shab-e-Barat.
On July 18, 2011, the mob had beaten them ruthlessly, apparently mistaking them for robbers in the dead of night on the capital's outskirts. The boys begged for mercy, saying that they were students, not robbers. But their pitiful pleas were drowned out by the frenzied shouts of the mob. The beating stopped only when they had gone beyond all pain.
As the dark gave its way to dawn, the spot retained the ominous signs of the that terrible night. Lying there were a red shirt, a pair of trousers of one of the victims and a bamboo stick that the mob used for killing.
“Still in my dreams, I hear my son calling 'Ma'. I wake up right at the moment only to find nobody around,” said Beauty Begum, mother of another victim Ibrahim Khalil. “How could a mob turn so violent on the night of prayer?” she kept asking between her sobs.
However, this is one of many such incidents where a mob becomes blind to law and order. The state hardly questions the action of mob violence. Although the Aminbazar murders have been highly publicised, no one has been given any jail term so far for the murder they had committed on the fateful night.
Had the culprits been punished, Al-Amin the lone survivor of the mob beating and his parents would have finally felt relievedof the constant fear. There has been no respite from the insecurity they have been living with ever since that day.
Al Amin–the lone survivour still lives in fear. Photo: Prabir Das
“Since he is the one who witnessed the killing of six of his friends right before his eyes, the fear never leaves us that the killers may murder him to ensure that no witness remains alive,” said Khabir Bapari, Al-Amin’s father.
His parents think twice before letting him walk alone even in his own neighbourhood even in broad daylight. Still suffering from the trauma, the boy has hardly anything to lose. His back still bears bruise marks from that night. He had been a sales representative of a juice company before the tragic incident took place. For physical injuries, the youth left the job that had earlier helped him contribute a little to his poor family.
He shuddered when recounting terrifying ordeal he had gone through two years ago. It was a joyful night that eventually turned into his worst nightmare. Seven friends were roaming around after saying prayers at a mosque near their residence in the capital's Darus Salam area. As they reached Aminbazar, some one kilometre away from the mosque, they took a stroll on the bank of the Turag river. They could not believe their eyes when a mob turned up out of the blue with sticks and sharp weapons in their hands.
Everything is still the same - the bed, the cupboard, the picture; only the occupant will remain missing. Photo: Prabir Das
"You are dacoits," were the first words of the mob giving no chance to defend themselves. The rest is the headlines of newspapers. Six dead on the spot and one severely injured. The beating took place in the very presence of law enforcers who played the role of silent spectators.
The dead are Tipu Sultan of Tejgaon College, Towhidur Rahman Palash, Kamruzzaman Kanto and Ibrahim Khalil of Mirpur Bangla College; Shams Rahim Shamam of Maple Leaf International School, and Sitaf Jabi Munif of Bangladesh University of Business and Technology.
Two years have gone by. It was only a few weeks ago that the first hearing against the 60 accused in the murder case took place. There is no police in the list of accused, although a judicial probe had found police negligence in saving their lives.
Parents of the victims demanded the case be transferred to a speedy tribunal for quick disposal. They even went to the prime minister's office on May 28, 2012. They wanted to meet the premier for placing their demands. But an official assured them of fixing a later date for the meeting. They have waited so long, but the date is yet to come.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments