"I can still hear him calling 'Ammu, Ammu.' I can't forget him. He was not a child one can forget. Whenever I think of how he was murdered, I shake. We survive only by holding on to his memory."
These were the words of Abrar Fahad’s mother, Rokeya Khatun.
Five years have passed since Abrar Fahad's murder at the hands of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) unit Chhatra League.
On Monday morning, when visiting Abrar's home on PTI Road in Kushtia, his mother, Rokeya Khatun, spoke with Dhaka Tribune.
The house was eerily quiet, and Royeka Khatun was alone. Abrar’s younger brother, Abrar Faiyaj, is a second-year student of mechanical engineering at Buet.
Abrar Fahad’s father, Barkat Ullah, had travelled to Dhaka to attend several events at Buet marking the anniversary of Abrar’s death.
With tear-filled eyes, Abrar’s mother, Rokeya Khatun, said: "Five years ago on this day, I saw him off in the morning as he got into the car. He reached Buet in the afternoon. After that, the Chhatra League activists called him, tortured him all night, and killed him. Not even once did anyone inform us over the phone that our son had been killed."
Abrar’s family lives on the ground floor of their three-story house. One room is neatly arranged. Next to the bed stands a large showcase. Standing by it, Rokeya Khatun said: "Everything from his room at Buet residential hall has been brought here. We retrieved his laptop and mobile phone from the police."
Inside the showcase, many of his belongings are carefully preserved, from his wristwatch, bags, books, and his ID card. There are also his shoes, a globe, clothes, and a prayer mat.
Rokeya Khatun shared that Abrar always wrote for the betterment of the country. “Because of one such writing, he became an enemy of a group.”
She said: "Abrar wasn't involved in politics. So why was he murdered so brutally?”
Abrar’s mother said that the murder trial had concluded, and the accused had been sentenced to death.
However, as some accused remain fugitives, she strongly demanded that the execution of all the convicts be carried out swiftly.
Speaking on the phone, Abrar’s father, Barkat Ullah, also expressed his demand for the arrest of the fugitives sentenced to death.
Meanwhile, Abrar's brother, Faiyaj, wrote on Facebook: “Several people have asked, after August 5, is this the Bangladesh that Abrar dreamed of?
“Believe me, the Bangladesh of Abrar Fahad's dreams is still far away. When we get our fair share of water from the rivers, when India won't suddenly release water and flood northern Bangladesh, when people won't be shot like birds at the border, when ilish won't be sent to India at a lower price from our markets, when we will control Mongla Port ourselves, when buses and trains will go from Bangladesh to Nepal and Bhutan—not just from Kolkata to Agartala—and most importantly, when Delhi won’t decide who will be in our government, then perhaps we will get that dream country. But not before that.”
