Blood, sweat and tears to win Mirpur
The movement in Mirpur began in full force on 17 July, and by the time it ended on 5 August, at least 47 were killed while nearly 800 were injured. The numbers are likely to rise further
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 heavy in the air.
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."
Mirpur's students, residents, factory workers and day labourers also took to the streets during the movement. They supported the protesters in various ways – from direct participation to offering different kinds of assistance. The students acknowledged the role of rickshaw pullers too risked their lives to transport the injured to hospitals
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.
How it all began
According to SM Sayem, one of the coordinators in Mirpur, the movement in Mirpur 10 began in full force from 17 July, a day after Abu Sayeed was shot to death in Rangpur, sparking a nationwide outrage.
"On that day, we were able to hold a funeral-in-absentia at the Mirpur 10 intersection. The next day, the Awami League and police launched a severe attack on the protesters."
Until 17 July, the movement was primarily among students but on 18 July, people from all surrounding areas poured in. The streets were crowded from Shewrapara to Mirpur 10, extending through Mirpur 11 and from Mirpur 2 to Mirpur 13.
From afternoon, police and Awami League members continuously attacked the protesters from the direction of the Model Police Station in Mirpur 1. Police used rubber bullets, pellet guns and sound grenades.
Police advanced from the Model Police Station towards Mirpur 10, firing at the protesters. The students and other people retaliated in phases, forcing police to retreat at times. Throughout the night of 18 July, there were repeated clashes between the police and students.
The TBS correspondent covering Mirpur on the day saw at least 50 injured taken to hospital.
Bloody Friday
On 19 July, Mirpur was relatively calm in the morning. With police stationed at the Mirpur 10 roundabout since morning, Awami League activists kept the point occupied till 1:15 pm.
The gathering was led by Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, general secretary of the Jubo League, and Gazi Mesbaul Hossain Sachchu, president of Swechchhasebak League.
Around 12:50 pm, Nikhil delivered a fiery speech there, "Mirpur is the stronghold of the Awami League. We will not tolerate any form of protest or attack here… We will not allow anyone to take control of Mirpur 10."
However, following Jummah prayers, there was no visible showdown at Mirpur 10 for at least an hour.
After 2:15 pm, protesters began to gather at the point. By 3 pm, thousands of demonstrators had assembled on the surrounding streets. And the attack on them commenced soon after.
Police began firing rubber bullets, shotgun pellets and sound grenades from the direction of Model Police Station. In no time, eight to 10 were injured and carried to a nearby hospital by their fellow protesters.
Around 3:40 pm, a microbus and 40-50 motorcycles entered Mirpur 10 from the Shewrapara side. The convoy included at least 20 motorcyclists who were armed with shotguns, pistols and heavy firearms. The rest were armed with sharp weapons and sticks. After entering through Kazipara, they began indiscriminately shooting at the protesters.
The microbus entered the Fire Service office, while the armed cadres continued to shoot at the protesters. In front of the TBS reporter, at the scene, four to five people were shot and fell to the ground.
Sayem continued, "On that day, Nikhil, Sachchu and other Awami League activists fired several hundreds of live rounds at the protesters. At least 20 people were killed on the spot, and hundreds of injured protesters were admitted to the hospital."
On 19 July, not only were sound grenades thrown and shots fired from helicopters, but police also fired from the metro rail lines onto the protesters on the streets below.
"When we noticed this, we went up to the metro rail station to confront the police, but we did not engage in any vandalism," Sayem said, adding that those who were involved in vandalism were not among the protesters.
He further stated that Awami League activists fired at them from within the city corporation office. "Then we retaliated. Although there was some vandalism afterwards, none of us set anything on fire. When the protesters left, Awami League members set fire to the vehicles themselves. The same thing happened at the Kazipara metro station."
The beginning of the end
With the imposition of curfew and army deployment, the protests began to subside from 20 July. However, despite the curfew, the protesters continued to make attempts to gather at various locations. In Mirpur 10, the army occasionally allowed students to continue their protests and this continued until 2 August.
On 3 August, the area was under the control of the protesters when a mammoth rally at the Shaheed Minar pronounced the one-point demand.
But the situation took a dangerous turn on the following day. From the morning, Awami League and their affiliated organisations, along with the police, took control of Mirpur 10.
After 11am, the protesters began to take to the streets. Since the Mirpur 10 roundabout was under Awami League control, the protesters attempted to enter from Kazipara, Mirpur 13 and Old Mirpur 10 points. But wherever they tried to enter, Awami League men attacked them.
Among the party leaders present with weapons that day were Nikhil, Sachchu and Councillor Ismail Mollah. They shot towards Mirpur 13, resulting in the deaths of at least five people instantly.
In Old Mirpur 10, they shot at least three people to death. Hundreds of others were injured.
Nahiann Sifat, a participant in the protests, told TBS, "I was shot in the leg on 18 July. I was also present on 4 August. That day, Awami League activists fired more bullets than police. They were heavily armed."
Sayem added, "On 4 August, it took us a deadly battle to gain control of Mirpur 10. We fought for almost five hours before the Awami League men and police retreated, and the army literally handed over Mirpur 10 to us around 4pm. After that, we took full control of the area.
Even then, Awami League activists continued to launch guerrilla attacks on us in various alleyways."
The end
On the morning of 5 August, protesters from various parts of Mirpur tried to take to the streets, but the army had secured the area, preventing anyone from coming out before Hasina's departure.
In this high-stakes moment, student protestors and other participants scrambled to check for updates on the protests online. But were met with another setback: an internet blackout.
Sayem said, "Once it was back, I was browsing through news sites. Around 1pm, I saw on the TBS Facebook page that lakhs of people from Uttara were heading towards Shahbagh. Seeing this, I called everyone around me and went out to the streets.
However, the army was not allowing us to enter Mirpur 10. At 2:52pm, the army again handed over Mirpur 10 to us."
Thousands of people in the area were now heading towards the Ganobhaban, the residence of the now-ousted prime minister. "We managed to get through the crowd to the Ganobhaban, but during our victory procession, we heard that shots were being fired from the Model Police Station side by Nikhil and other activists."
Later, they retreated into the police station after being chased by students. But it was not the protesters who took part in looting or vandalism of the station; it was outsiders who carried out those actions, according to Sayem and several others involved in the movement.
Mohammad Monirul Islam, who took over as the officer-in-charge (OC) of Mirpur Model Police Station on 21 August, told TBS that 10 cases were filed there last month, most of which are murder cases, in connection with the clashes.
Additionally, there are several other cases that have come from the court for investigation.
"We are actively investigating these cases, identifying suspects through various photos, videos and other evidence."
Their work is being somewhat hindered due to the renovation of the damaged police station, as well as the transportation crisis for police patrols with several vehicles burned, he told TBS on 17 September. Monirul was later transferred to Ramna Detective Branch.
The residents of Mirpur are also trying to come to terms with the post-uprising trauma. Many still hear gunshots in recurring nightmares while caring for the injured has become a massive task, with a number of them still hospitalised.
Two months into the power change, economic activities have resumed after being severely impacted by the conflicts but incidents of extortion are now disrupting businesses.
On 17 September, at least eight students were injured in Mirpur 13 when they were attacked for attempting to prevent extortion.
Identifying the dead
The head teacher of Amader Pathshala Tofazzal Hossain told TBS, "We found that many of those who died on 18-19 July were secretly buried by their families. They did not even want to speak to us about it."
A process was initiated to compile a list of the deceased in Mirpur but had to be put on a halt midway, according to Tofazzal. This happened because multiple lists were being compiled from different sources, and the families of the deceased were becoming distressed by the repeated visits.
"For now, the process is on hold. However, if the government conducts a thorough and official enumeration, most of the names would be included," said Tofazzal.
He mentioned that alongside the students, local residents of Mirpur, factory workers and day labourers also took to the streets during the movement. They supported the protesters in various ways – from direct participation to offering different kinds of assistance.
Echoing Tofazzal's view, local students acknowledged the role of rickshaw pullers who took the risk of transporting the injured to hospitals amid fierce clashes.
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.
