Md Akkas Ali, a 44-year-old plastic factory worker, stepped out of his rented house in the Muradpur area of Jatrabari in the afternoon of August 5, 2024 to celebrate the victory following the fall of 16-year autocratic rule, reports BSS.
But the moment of triumph turned into an unspeakable tragedy as he ‘was shot dead’ in front of Jatrabari Police Station when he joined the victory procession after autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina fled the country in face of the student-led mass uprising.
Akkas' sudden death shattered his family, leaving them struggling to survive as he was the only breadwinner of his three-member family.
Now, his wife, Lovely Akter (40), and their 19-year-old son, Abdur Rab, are facing an uncertain future, battling financial hardship with no substantial aid in sight.
Abdur Rab, a student at a Qawmi Madrasah in the Khudar Bazar area of Shanir Akhra, vividly remembered the last meal he had with his father.
"On August 5, my father returned home from his factory for lunch after Zohr prayers while I also returned home from the procession of anti-discrimination student movement. We, including my mother, had lunch together and took a short rest before leaving the house," grief stricken Rab recalled the last moment with his father.He said after leaving the house he went towards Kutubkhali to join the victory procession as by that time Sheikh Hasina had resigned and fled the country, but he could not know that his father had joined the procession too in the Dholaipar area of Jatrabari.
According to his family members, Akkas was not involved in politics. He had never spoken about the anti-discrimination student movement. Yet, he had joined the procession to witness the history-the fall of Sheikh Hasina's rule. But that decision cost him his life.
"As my father had no interest in the country's politics, we thought he would go to his workplace. But, later, I came to know that he joined the procession in front of Jatrabari Police Station under the Mayor Hanif Flyover when I was just on the Flyover," Rab said.
After the procession, he returned to his Madrasah during the time of Maghrib prayers. But when he was attending a class after the prayers, a teacher called him aside and told him to go home, saying that one of his family members had sustained bullet injury. But he had no idea that his father had been shot.
What awaited him at home was beyond his worst fears.
"After returning from Madrasah, I found my father's lifeless body lying on a Khatiya (dead body carrier) in front of our local mosque," Rab recalled the heartbreaking moment as he was trying to control his emotions.
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