Md Parvez Bepari, a carpenter by profession at a furniture shop in the city’s North Badda, was shot dead by police during the anti-discrimination student movement at North Badda in Dhaka city on July 19.
Family members of Parvez hectically contacted with Parvez when the antidiscrimination student movement was getting a momentum with huge outrage and deep-rooted anger of people of all levels and they could not reach him. His family knew about his death on July 21.
After receiving the news of his son's death, Sobuj Bepari went to Dhaka to locate his son. It took about 15 days to find Parvez’s body. But Sabuj Bepari, father of Parvez, eventually lost his job in the meantime.
Parvez Bepari, 23, was the only son of Sabuj Bepari, 50, and Shamsunnahar, 45, residents of Barhatia village under Uttar Matlab Upazila in Chandpur district. Parvez was the eldest among his four siblings.
Carpenter Parvez started assisting Sabuj Bepari as his father’s income was not enough to run the family along with continuing the educational expenses of his three daughters. Of them, his elder daughter Nupur Akhter, 18, has passed HSC exam this year with GPA 3.53; his second daughter, Jhumur Akhtar, 15, is studying in class X; and his younger daughter, Khadija Akhtar, 12, is studying in class VI.
Sabuj Bepari used to work in the canteen of a launch ‘MV Sonartari-1’ plying on the Dhaka-Chandpur route. But when Sabuj Bepari came to Dhaka to find his son after getting his death’s news, he lost his job as he could not go to work during that period.
Momin, cousin of martyr Parvez, said Parvez joined the protest under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement during the student-led uprising along with some of his friends in North Badda in the evening of July 19. Then he was shot in the nose and forehead. He was taken to a nearby hospital. He was referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he died.
But Parvez’s name was not in the first list published by the authorities of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Sabuj Bepari said, “We came to know on July 21 from the workplace of my son that he went missing . .... Hearing this, I rushed to Dhaka.”
“Reaching Dhaka on the same day, I went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital at 10 pm... But I could not find my son’s name in the list provided by the hospital authorities.”
“Then, I thought that police might arrest him... So, I went to Badda, Rampura and Hatirjheel police stations,” Sabuj said, adding, “Alas, where would I find my son?
“Literately, I lost hope... I came back to my village,” he added.
“On August 8, Masud Sarkar, a resident of our area, phoned me and told me that he found the name of Parvez in a list,” Sobuj said, adding that he went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on the same day.
“Then, staff of the hospital’s morgue showed me two photos... In one photo, there was my son Parvez,” he started crying while narrating hospital’s incident.
Then, hospital staff told Sobuj that Parvez's body was handed over to Anjuman Mofidul along with eight other bodies.
“After that, I went to Anjumane Mofidul Islam's Kakrail and Mugda offices. But they could not say whereabouts of my son’s body... They were assuming that my son might have been buried at Jurain graveyard.”
“Not finding my son’s body, being frustrated, I came back to home.”
In the afternoon of August 9, a namaz-e-janaza was held in front of Sarkar Bari Jam-e-Masjid adjacent to their house. Local public representatives and journalists were present there.
Parvez’s mother, Shamsunnahar, lamented and said, “I could not be able to touch my son for the last time... He could not get the soil of his birthplace.”
Nupur Akhtar, the elder sister of Parvez, said, “I last spoke to my brother on July 16. We could not talk after that as there was no internet. He always inquired about our studies.”
Parvez always tried to provide whatever his sisters demanded to him, Nurpur said, adding, “I want justice for those who killed my brother. In the absence of my brother, we have none to run our family. I have passed the HSC, but my studies are uncertain due to our financial condition.”
Shamsunnahar said, “My son could continue studying after class III. He was a student at local Rasulpur Government Primary School. . . After that, he started learning the work of a carpenter in our area.”
"Then he moved to Dhaka, where he had been working for the last eight years,” said Parvez’s mother, adding, “Our son’s income helps for running my family . . . . My son also paid for his sisters’ education.”
“After his death, we are in an uncertain state... What do we do now? How will my family run and my girls will study?”
Reminiscing about the last meeting with Parvez, Sabuj Mia said, “I met my son when I came home after 15 days of last Eid al-Azha.”
About his job, he said that he contacted the launch owner, but he refused to recruit him again.
He said representatives from political parties visited their house, but they are yet to get any assistance.
“However, the upazila executive officer sent Taka 10,000 to us and some fruits.”
In this situation, she requested the administration to arrange jobs for him and his elder daughter, who recently passed the HSC examination.
