‘Why was my child killed?’ Parents grieve a month after Bangladesh clashes
Al Jazeera
Grief-stricken parents share how their young children were killed during the July unrest and crackdowns on students.
Dhaka, Bangladesh – In the early afternoon of July 19, four-year-old Abdul Ahad was on the balcony of his family’s toy-strewn, rented apartment in Rayerbag neighbourhood when he saw a commotion on the street.
Abdul, loud, curious and always asking questions, called out to his father.
“Dad, look. Look what is happening,” he said to his father, Abul Hasan.
Abul peered down at the street below. The street, lined with tall apartment buildings, was usually filled with pedestrians, vegetable vendors, rickshaws and children playing cricket on the pavement. But it was a weekend and a curfew had been imposed that day following recent protests and clashes, and the street was quieter than usual.
Abul, 33, and his wife, Sumi Akhter, 26, joined Abdul on the balcony. Abdul’s older brother, Matubbar, 11, the quieter of the two siblings, was at his religious school where he lives and studies.
