Death of a Local Hero
This piece was written exactly one year ago today after Abu Sayed was martyred. It was far from certain at that point that Hasina would be defeated and most believed then that she would rule until she died peacefully in her sleep decades hence.
The young man stood defiant and alone, facing the line of police firing bullets and shotgun shells to disperse the students who were agitating for the elimination of unfair quotas in government jobs.
Abu Sayed spread his arms wide like the crucified Jesus, daring the police to shoot at his unprotected body like the Roman soldiers pierced the body of Jesus with spears.
As if he was saying to the powers of authority, you can take my life, but you cannot take my rights and my dignity as a citizen of a republic.
The police of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh promptly shot him, but one bullet was not enough to take down the body of a mighty spirit. Abu Sayed flinched from the shot but then spread his arms again as if saying, is that the best you can do?
The police shot him again. He staggered backward and sat down from the shock and the wounds. His friends and fellow agitators rushed to take him away.
But Abu Sayed still was not done. Summoning the last ounce of energy that was fast draining away from bullet wounds, he tried to stand again, but failed. As his friends carry his body away, he breathes the last breath of his short but radiant life.
From where did this extraordinary courage and defiance spring? They came from living in a pit of desperation year after year. Bangladesh has been going through a jobless, stagnant economy and rampant inflation for many years.
Moreover, the people of Bangladesh haven’t been able to vote in a democratic election for more than fifteen years. An entire generation has grown up without ever exercising the political rights of a citizen of a republic and now faces bleak economic prospects personally.
Government jobs are one of the few avenues still remaining for the youth of Bangladesh, to build a respectable career and life of dignity.
However, the regime is now restricting that remaining path by imposing a 30% quota to fill government positions with unqualified, political loyalists.
The quota was the last straw upon the stagnant economy on the camel’s back for the youth of Bangladesh who have come down to the streets in protest throughout the country in their millions.
When the news of the death of Abu Sayed reached his family, they broke down in shock and grief. “My brother was so talented,” laments his sister. “He got scholarships in school, in college. My father could not bear his education costs, so my brother earned to pay on his own. He graduated honors in the English department of the university. We had a dream of seeing my brother in government service. He was preparing for the exam. He was the only hope of the family.”
The grief-stricken sister cries: “Why did the police have to shoot my brother four times in the chest? Why couldn’t they just beat him and break his legs if they wanted to stop him? Please shoot me three times. I want to feel what my brother felt."
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