Mother of Mirpur
Aysha Begum was one year old when the nation gained independence in 1971, too young to understand the meaning of 'freedom.' In her later years, thinking of politics or liberty was a luxury she could never afford.
Her focus remained solely on the struggle to feed her family.
Now, as the people celebrate another victory — the fall of the Hasina regime — there are no smiles for Aysha. For the rest of her life, this event will haunt her rather.
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This August, she lost her young son Shakil.
He was gunned down in Mirpur on 4 August when police and ruling party goons unleashed bloody violence against the participants of the July uprising. By then, the quota reform movement evolved into an all-out struggle for Hasina's ousting.
Mirpur – home to several educational institutions – became one of the hotspots that witnessed fierce street battles as people, mostly led by students, stood defiant in the face of indiscriminate shootings and attacks.
Twenty-three-year-old Shakil Hossen engaged in the movement from the very beginning.
Like other days, students from Mirpur's Pallabi had planned to participate in protests on the morning of 4 August. Shakil, however, expressed his inability to join them. The family was planning to move and he had to look for a house to rent. He was also feeling unwell.
Around 11 am, students tried to take control of Mirpur 10 but members of the Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League had already taken position in the area since early morning – all armed with shotguns, pistols, machetes and sticks.
As soon as the students advanced from Mirpur 13 towards Mirpur 10, the ruling party activists opened fire. The students retaliated by throwing brickbats but they were no match for the volley of bullets.
Yet, a running battle between the two sides continued until 12:30 pm.
The smile
"Amid the clashes, I suddenly saw Shakil in front of Ideal School. He was not supposed to join the protest that day. As soon as he saw me, he smiled at me," Rajib Hossain, a friend of Shakil and a student of UODA, told TBS.
Shakil was also a student at the University of Development Alternative (UODA). A bright, politically conscious youth, Shakil participated in the 2018 Road Safety Movement.
"After that," Rajib continued, "we, along with Shakil, started using the benches of footpath vendors as shields and tried to advance. In the chaos of the clashes, I also lost my mobile phone.
"Suddenly, I saw Awami League activists advancing toward us, firing from the direction of Mirpur 10. I told Shakil, 'Let's go back.' We quickly started retreating, and Shakil was with us."
Suddenly, Rajib realised Shakil was no longer with him. While Rajib looked for his friend, he saw at least five people lying on the road, gunned down, and four of them had been hit in the head.
Rajib was recounting the fateful day at Shakil's Pallabi Block D rented house. Shakil's mother, Aysha Begum, sat numb with a blank expression. Her grief hung. Also present with them was Mim Akhtar.
Shakil, Rajib and Mim are all former students of Amader Pathshala — a school in Mirpur 12, run by volunteers, for underprivileged children. They shared a special bond. They engaged in activism for social change while pursuing higher education.
Mim said, "Around 12:40 pm [on 4 August], I received a call informing me that Shakil Bhai had been shot and was being taken to Kurmitola Hospital. A group of us went to the hospital, where we found him unconscious on a stretcher.
The attending nurses repeatedly said his condition was critical and he needed to be moved to the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital urgently."
Aysha spoke then, "My son never used to tell me when he was going to a protest. Whenever I found out [that he was going], I would forbid him. But he went every day with his friends without telling me."
Recalling the tragic day, she said Shakil came home before noon, had lunch and then took a 10-minute nap. Later, he got a call and left the house quickly, telling Aysha that he had found a house.
After Shakil left, Aysha fell asleep. Around 2pm, a few of his friends came to wake her up with the news of Shakil's injury.
She rushed to Kurmitola Hospital but was told that Shakil was at the neurosciences hospital.
They managed to reach the hospital at Agargaon after struggling through multiple roadblocks by the army personnel, where they were told to turn back.
"I found my boy with an oxygen mask on and not moving at all," Aysha recounted.
Shakil passed away on 7 August.
The student coordinators of the Mirpur protests are currently working on compiling a list specific to Mirpur. Already, 47 deaths and nearly 800 injuries have been counted.
Will there be no justice?
In 2013, Shakil's mother Aysha Begum moved to Dhaka from Bhola with her four children.
Due to financial constraints, she could not ensure quality education for Shakil and his siblings. After they arrived in the city, Shakil's father stayed back in the village but fell ill.
Despite bringing him to Dhaka for treatment, he passed away after three months.
Aysha worked as a housemaid to ensure her children could continue their education. She has since married off her two daughters.
At this stage in her life, Aysha Begum, having lost Shakil, is always forlorn. She spoke with the TBS team for nearly two hours. At the end of the conversation, she broke down in tears.
"On 3 August, I saw in the news that the police would no longer shoot. Then who shot my Shakil in the head on the 4th? Sheikh Hasina said there were no thugs in the Awami League, that all the thugs were in the opposition. Then what about the Awami League's gang that shot at my Shakil and hundreds of other boys? Will there be no justice for this?" asked Aysha as she wept.
Everyone in the room stood in silence, including Rajib and Mim. There were no words to console Aysha Begum, a mother who lost her child to the July-August massacre, and perhaps there never will be.
