S A Shofiee Sylhet:
July 19 last year. The day was Friday. There was a huge anti-government movement going on in Sylhet too. After the Friday prayers, Sylhet city became agitated with the slogans of the protesters. Journalist Abu Taher Muhammad Turab was shot while taking pictures of the procession in front of the city’s Bandar Bazar Madhuban Market. Although he was wearing a chest guard and helmet marked as a journalist, he was still shot. He was killed.
Journalist Turab’s elder brother Abul Ahsan Md. Azraf (Jabur) filed a case in the Sylhet Metropolitan Sessions Court, naming 18 people including the then Additional Police Commissioner of Sylhet, Deputy Commissioner, OC of two police stations and Awami League-Chhatra League. The case is currently pending in the International Crimes Tribunal.
Abul Ahsan Azraf said, “My brother was wearing a journalist’s jacket and helmet. Even then, 98 rounds were fired at him. His body was charred. Was collecting news his crime?”
He said, “It has been a year since the movement, and the accused have not been arrested yet. The trial is not over. If this government does not prosecute, will another government prosecute?”
Slain journalist Turab is the son of Abdur Rahim in Beanibazar. His father was also a journalist. He served as the president of the Beanibazar Press Club three times. Turab was the youngest of three brothers and a sister.
Turab married London-based Tania Islam on May 12 last year. The journalist was killed 2 months and 6 days after the wedding.
His mother, Mumtaz Begum, fell ill whenever she thought of Turab. Whenever she saw her eldest son, Ahsan Md. Azraf Zabur, she would ask, “Will the accused be hanged?” Sometimes she would say, “Didn’t the accused get caught?” Zabur was tired of reassuring his mother. Turab’s brother Jabur also asked his mother, “Did I get the Bangladesh I wanted?” He said with regret, “It’s been almost a year, and since I still haven’t gotten a fair trial for my brother’s murder, the Bangladesh I had before remains.”
During the student-public movement, Sylhet correspondent ATM Turab of the daily Naya Diganta was shot dead by police while performing his professional duties at Court Point in Sylhet city on July 19, 2024. His village home is in Fatehpur village of Beanibazar municipality.
