Abu Sayed’s mother and father, Mokbul Hussein and Monowara Khatun, sit within the courtyard of their house in Rangpur, Bangladesh, on July 30. On the wall behind them hangs a memorial plaque devoted to their son who was killed by police throughout protests final yr.
Parvez Ahmad Rony for NPR
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Parvez Ahmad Rony for NPR
BABANPUR, Bangladesh — The monsoon rains lash down on this distant village in northern Bangladesh. Outdoors a modest mud home, a number of cows chew lazily on cud inside their pens, whereas a hen struts throughout the sodden courtyard, her 5 chicks in tow.
Abu Sayed’s aged mother and father sit quietly on the veranda, staring on the deluge, their minds seemingly elsewhere.
To an unsuspecting passerby, it seems like a peaceable scene — albeit an impoverished one.
However after a better take a look at the house, a stark picture comes into focus: Dozens of posters and images of Sayed line the trail to the home, and encompass his grave close by.
Some present him together with his arms outstretched, bearing his chest as he confronts police on July 16 final yr outdoors his college within the northern district of Rangpur, simply moments earlier than officers shot him 4 occasions at shut vary.
His dying, and the occasions surrounding it, had been a part of one of the crucial vital political upheavals in Bangladesh in many years.
Smoke rises from burning autos close to the Catastrophe Administration Directorate workplace throughout anti-government protests in Dhaka on July 18, 2024. Bangladeshi college students set hearth to the nation’s state broadcaster that day, a day after then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the community searching for to calm the unrest.
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Thirty-six days of nationwide unrest left as many as 1,400 folks useless and 1000’s extra injured, largely by the hands of the safety forces, in response to the United Nations.
Different posters bear the phrases shahid — the Arabic phrase for “martyr” — throughout them.
They’re a continuing reminder to his household of his function within the student-led protests that began earlier that month — and the worth he paid.
His father, Mokbul Hussein, tells NPR the 24-year-old was a quiet, well mannered younger man who excelled in his research.
“My son graduated with honors,” he says, his voice trembling with emotion. “He actually struggled. I could not afford his training, so he labored and paid for it himself. He was about to get a job when the protests started. Now he is a martyr. After I consider it, my eyes fill with tears and my coronary heart aches.”
Mokbul Hussein stands beside his son’s gravesite, positioned proper subsequent to their house, praying.
Parvez Ahmad Rony for NPR
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Parvez Ahmad Rony for NPR
Sayed’s mom, Monowara Khatun, sighs deeply. “I take a look at my son’s picture daily,” she says. “But it surely brings no peace. My days are full of ache. He beloved me a lot.”
Sayed’s capturing was captured dwell on tv. The footage confirmed him unarmed and posing no menace. It shortly went viral and marked a turning level within the protests, which had begun as calls for to reform civil service job quotas, 30% of which had been reserved for descendants of freedom fighters from the 1971 Conflict of Independence.
Sayed died inside 20 minutes of being shot.
Instantly afterward, the protests shifted. The demand was easy: Sheikh Hasina, who had dominated as prime minister for 15 years, needed to go.
They ended with Hasina fleeing to India by helicopter. She now faces costs of crimes towards humanity in Bangladesh.
Anti-government protesters show Bangladesh’s nationwide flag as they storm the prime minister’s palace in Dhaka, on Aug. 5, 2024.
Okay M Asad/AFP through Getty Photographs
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Okay M Asad/AFP through Getty Photographs
In the meantime, a tribunal has been set as much as convey to justice these chargeable for the deaths throughout the protests — however the course of is taking time.
The interim authorities, fashioned shortly afterward beneath the management of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was extensively hailed as a brand new chapter for Bangladesh: an opportunity to restore years of authoritarian rule, enforced disappearances, corruption and human rights abuses.
A rising sense of disillusionment
However 12 months on, a rising sense of disillusionment is sweeping throughout the nation.
Critics accuse the brand new authorities of failing to deal with mob violence, and assaults on girls and minority teams.
On the identical time unemployment stays excessive.
Anu Muhammad, an economist based mostly within the city of Savar, simply north of Dhaka, says inside divisions throughout the coalition are partly guilty.
“Some teams had been very a lot illiberal, some teams had been secular,” he says, “so these had been the variations. Individuals are getting increasingly annoyed due to the inaction, due to the dearth of coordination amongst themselves, lack of coordination with the federal government and paperwork, authorities and police, authorities and judiciary.”
The safety of Bangladesh’s minority communities, particularly Hindus, was one challenge about which hopes had been highest.
At Dhaka’s Dhakeshwara Temple, the most important Hindu temple within the nation, police stand guard on the gates. Inside, nonetheless, the temper is jovial: worshippers take selfies and chat amongst themselves.
A marriage is underway. The bride is resplendent in purple and gold. The groom is adorned with a garland of contemporary flowers.
Adrita Roy, a drama pupil, who took half in final yr’s protests, says it is a false impression that Hasina’s Awami League political get together protected her neighborhood.
“My grandfather was a Hindu freedom fighter,” she says. “All of his properties had been confiscated by Awami League leaders, and so they actually made a celebration workplace out of his ancestral house. These had been the issues that had been occurring.”
However she provides that regardless of guarantees made by Yunus to guard minorities, little has modified.
Monowara Khatun reveals Abu Sayed’s T-shirt, riddled with holes from bullets she says had been fired by police at shut vary. Sayed was unarmed when police shot him at shut vary.
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Parvez Ahmad Rony for NPR
“Earlier than the Yunus authorities got here to energy, he promised he would maintain the minorities,” she says, “which was very reassuring. However then the Awami League propaganda began flooding in. That is when the federal government ought to have performed a stronger function and prevented the very large incidents which have occurred over the past couple of months.”
The Awami League declined NPR’s request for remark.
“We’re merely not a mature democracy”
Yunus’ press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, defends the administration’s document on tackling crime.
He factors to reforms in legislation and order, human rights, and transparency as proof of progress.
“Essentially the most troublesome activity for this authorities was to handle expectations,” he advised NPR.
“A few of these guys who criticize us, they wished us to behave like a really mature democracy, which Bangladesh will not be. It isn’t like the UK or Scandinavian nations. We’re merely not a mature democracy.”
Again in Babanpur, because the rain continues to fall, Sayed’s father says he has one ultimate request:
“Abu Sayed gave his life for his nation. Now I ask the federal government for justice.”
Solely then, he says, will he and his spouse discover peace.
Mokbul Hussein prepares feed for the cow at their house. For his household, the truth that his son Abu Sayed was learning at a public college was a matter of nice delight.
Parvez Ahmad Rony for NPR
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Parvez Ahmad Rony for NPR
