Shaheed Abu Sayeed, you are not a failure, nor the cry of your soul

Abu Sayeed was born in 2001 in Babonpur village of Pirganj upazila in Rangpur. His father is Mokbul Hossain, his mother Monowara Begum. Abu Sayeed had six brothers and three sisters; he was the youngest of nine siblings. He passed the fifth grade from the local Jafor Para Government Primary School with a talent pool scholarship. Afterwards, he passed SSC from the local Khalashpir Dimukhi High School with a Golden GPA-5. In 2018, he passed intermediate with GPA-5 from Rangpur Government College. Later in 2020, he got admitted to the Department of English at Begum Rokeya University. He was a student of the 12th batch (2024) of the English department at Rokeya University. Abu Sayeed was a spirited, talented young student. People in his area had dreams centred around him. It is unbearably painful to bring back the body of that same Sayeed.

On any other day, if Sayeed came home, his parents would eagerly await him with joy. That day they waited to see his dead body. Can we even slightly comprehend the storm that raged in the hearts of the mother who carried him in the womb? In the darkness of midnight, the sorrowful sound of weeping touched everyone present. Many had tears in their eyes hearing the cries of the mother, sisters, and relatives. Tears streamed from the stone-like gaze of the father. Abu Sayeed had grown up proving his merit from childhood. The family could not afford to bear the cost of his education. He used to bear his own study expenses. Sometimes he was on the verge of giving up his studies. There was no separate room in Abu Sayeed’s house to live in. Two brothers used to share one bed.

The father sold part of a small piece of land to build a house. Only the wall had been erected. Family members used to say Sayeed would get a big job – it was his dream. It goes without saying that fulfilling that dream is somewhat difficult if there is a 56 per cent quota. As a result, he too joined the Anti-discrimination Student Movement demanding quota reform. That very Abu Sayeed has made July 16, 2024 a historic day in Bangladesh’s history. On this day, brave student of Rangpur’s Begum Rokeya University, Shaheed Abu Sayeed, stood with his arms wide open against injustice in front of the weapons of the monster government. The world has seen the courage of a Bengali youth. In world history, too, Abu Sayeed has become a unique figure. Several police officers surrounded him and beat him with sticks. Even after being severely beaten, fearless Abu Sayeed did not hesitate to stand with arms wide open in front of the weapons.

Abu Sayeed was brutally killed with birdshot from close range. Even so, Abu Sayeed reached such a height of life where reaching means achieving immortality. The Abu Sayeed who never spoke loudly in the classroom became a leading organiser and coordinator of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement for quota reform. He used to cover his own education expenses by earning from tutoring. He even used to contribute from that income to move the movement forward. He himself became the indomitable one against injustice. Shaheed Abu Sayeed continued organising the movement, defying the red eyes of the state. Even after being beaten by the ruling party student wing Chhatra League’s goons, he did not give up, instead became even more determined in the movement.

At that time, whatever the government wanted would happen. Abu Sayeed’s death against such misrule was not coincidental. Though young in age, his level of intellect was mature. His stance was intelligent. To energise the movement, he wrote on Facebook about Nuruldin, Khudiram, Pritilata, Shamsuzzoha, Rafiq, Shafiq, Barkat. He sharply criticised the government. He wrote against Chhatra League. He tried to explain the logic of the movement. On July 15, Shaheed Abu Sayeed made several posts on Facebook. All were centred on the Anti-discrimination Movement for quota reform, but their meaning went beyond the boundaries of the quota movement.

He posted mentioning what Shaheed Shamsuzzoha had said the day before he died. Shamsuzzoha’s quote was – “Today I am bloodied with the students’ blood. If there is another bullet, let it hit me instead of the students.” Abu Sayeed commented – “To die being a Shamsuzzoha is much more joyous, honourable, and proud.” This was his last post on Facebook. On July 15, he made a long post severely criticising the government and the ruling party’s student organisation Chhatra League. There he said, “This tactic of branding someone a collaborator just because they don’t agree with you will no longer work.” At the end of the post he wrote, “The owners of the country are its people, so prioritise the people’s wishes. Whatever the government wants shall happen – this cannot be the image of any democratic country.” On July 14, Abu Sayeed wrote, “I also say the same – if I live, I will live with dignity. Out of fear of anyone’s red eyes, I will not hesitate to call justice just and injustice unjust.”

On July 13, Abu Sayeed wrote on Facebook, “The most important thing is whether you are on the side of justice or injustice. It is better, more honourable, and nobler to die on the side of justice than to live a hundred years on the side of injustice.” On July 16, instead of becoming a centenarian, Abu Sayeed embraced death on the side of justice like a hero. As a result, he became a deathless soul. There was a reason behind Abu Sayeed posting as though embracing death. Abu Sayeed and other coordinators who regularly conducted programmes at the university were threatened. They were told to stop the movement. They were assaulted. The government, Awami League and its affiliated organisations were determined to shut down the movement. Many people had been killed in the past for standing against the government. So, even knowing that death could come, Abu Sayeed remained steadfast.

On July 24, the UN Fact-Finding Mission published an investigation report on human rights violations in the July-August student-people movement. It described the killing of the first martyr of the movement, Abu Sayeed. The report said that at the request of the Interim Government’s Chief Advisor Dr Muhammad Yunus, the UN Human Rights Office sent a team in September. This team included a human rights investigator, a forensic doctor, and a weapons expert. They conducted an independent and impartial fact-finding on the fatal incidents. It stated that former senior officials directly involved in protest handling and other internal sources described how the former Prime Minister and other officials from various sectors ordered and supervised multiple large-scale operations, during which security and intelligence forces shot and killed protesters or arbitrarily arrested and tortured them.

A forensic analysis concluded that his injuries were consistent with being shot at least twice from about 14 metres away with a shotgun loaded with metallic pellets. The report stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe Abu Sayeed was a victim of an intentional extrajudicial killing by the police. Dead Abu Sayeed became more powerful than living Abu Sayeed. Shaheed Abu Sayeed showed through his life that even death can be beautiful, can be meaningful.

Across the country, protesters seemed to have become like Abu Sayeed. They too marched forward every day, trampling the fear of death. The consequence of that forward march was the fall of the monster government on 5 August. As long as the monster government was in power, endless falsehoods were spread about Abu Saeed. False cases were filed. Injustice was done even to dead Abu Saeed. A year has passed in the meantime. Progress has been made in the trial of Abu Saeed’s murder. We demand justice for all the killings of the July Uprising, including that of Shaheed Abu Saeed. The sacrifice of life for the establishment of justice will only be fulfilled if justice is indeed established. “You are not a failure, nor is the cry of your soul a failure; but they have failed, in their boundless cruelty and brutality, page by page in the witness of time and history.”

Rayhan Ahmed Tapader: Researcher and columnist