“I do not understand the court; I have never been to such a place in my life. How can I find my husband?”
These were the words of Ranjina. Hailing from a village in Kaunia Upazila of Rangpur, she ventured to Dhaka for the first time in her life, carrying her 17-month-old baby in her arms.
Desperately searching the court premises for her husband, she anxiously approached any prison van she saw. Ranjina came to Dhaka by borrowing money with interest, hoping to secure her husband's release and return to the village the same day.
However, she did even know that a lawyer was needed to obtain bail for her husband.
Quota reform movement: Arrested 78 HSC examinees secured bail"My husband's dream was to bring me and our kids around Dhaka city. There is no work in the village, so my husband has been driving rickshaws in Dhaka for 20 years. If I had known earlier that there would be such a danger in our life, I would have asked him to stay in the village," Ranjina lamented.
Forty-year-old Nabi Hossain, a rickshaw driver in Dhaka’s Jatrabari area for 20 years, was arrested along with six other rickshaw drivers on the night of July 26.
They were accused of involvement in clashes, vandalism, and terrorist activities during the ongoing quota movement.
The family's modest income of Tk6,000 a month, which Nabi sent, was their lifeline, covering his sick mother-in-law’s medicine, the children's education, and household expenses.
Late on the night of July 26, Ranjina received a call from the owner of the rickshaw garage, informing her that her husband and six others had been taken to Jatrabari police station. With no money to travel to Dhaka, she borrowed funds from a village association. Upon arrival, she discovered that money alone was insufficient for bail.
A Dhaka Tribune reporter spoke to Ranjina on July 29 at the court premises.
Holding her 17-month-old daughter and weeping, she said: "He was the only person earning in the family. In our family of five, his Tk6-7 thousand was our only income. I don’t know what to say to my sick mother-in-law when I go back to the village. I don’t know if I will be able to see my husband even once."
“The police did not arrest any older people from the garage, only the seven young ones,” she added.
On the morning of the arrest, Nabi had called his wife as usual, asking about their daughter Moyna and her breakfast. He promised to call again after work. That night, before sleeping, he called to check on Moyna one last time.
A Jatrabari police officer said that Nabi Hossain and the other six rickshaw pullers were arrested based on evidence found during investigation into clashes that took place on July 18 and 19 in the area.
The garage owner hired a lawyer to arrange bail for the drivers, but Ranjina has not spoken to the lawyer, nor does she understand the legal processes needed to free her husband.
Ranjina mentioned a brief two-minute meeting with the lawyer at court, where he told her that coming to the court would be futile and that the case would take time to resolve.
Dhaka Tribune could not contact garage owner Mohammad Rahim despite repeated attempts.
Despite the uncertainties, Ranjina's foremost desire is to see her husband once and talk to him. She believes he is being framed due to their poverty and insists he is not involved in any terrorist activities and is simply a rickshaw puller.
