‘Country was freed, but my son hasn’t returned’: Arafat’s mother
BSS:
Arafat’s mother used to dream that her only son would join the Bangladesh Army and serve the nation once he completes his studies, making his parents’ faces shine. But the bud of her dream fell prematurely before it could blossom into a flower.
The dream ended in tragedy as 14-year-old Arafat was killed in front of Ashulia Police Station on the outskirts of the capital city Dhaka during the anti-discrimination student movement on August 5, 2024. His mother, Maya Begum, now lives with an endless void, clutching her son’s photos and memories.
The dream that Arafat would one day wear the military uniform and make his parents proud was shattered by bullets fired by the frantic police force unleashed by the fascist government during the historic March to Dhaka campaign that helped end a 16-year-long fascist regime.
Arafat, the only son of rickshaw-puller Swapan Munshi and garment worker Maya Begum of Muksudpur upazila of the district, lived in a rented house with his parents at Namabazar in Ashulia. He was an eighth-grade student at Bird School and College.
His mother, Maya Begum, burst into tears when this correspondent approached her for comments about her martyred son at their village home here on April 20.
Recounting the memory in the morning on August 5, she tearfully said, “I didn’t turn on the light that morning to help him sleep longer as I feared that he would join the protest. I was sleeping beside him too.”
Around 9 am, Arafat woke up and asked his mother why she didn’t wake him up from sleep.
“Maa, it’s not the time to be scared. Even girls are out protesting now. How can a boy like me sit at home? It’s our country. We have to fight to survive. Maa, we are citizens of this country, we have rights and responsibilities. If we don’t fight for the country, will the sons of other countries come and save the country?” wailing Maya recalled as her son told her after waking up from sleep.
Begging him to stay, Maya tried to convince him with love and promises of good food. She cooked his favorite dish — Tilapia fish with spinach — and lovingly fed him. At that time, Arafat promised he wouldn’t go out.
“Bajan (Baba), you are my only child. You don’t need to join the movement. If something happens to you, with whom will I live? Who will call me ‘Maa’? Whom will I call ‘Bajan’ and feed? Bajan, you are still young, grow up first,” she recalled her efforts to stop her son from joining the protest.
“Later, I made a cup of tea and shared it with,” Maya recalled.
Around 12.30pm, Maya remembered that she called Arafat for lunch when he begged her in a sweet voice, saying “Maa, will you feed me, please? You are my good mother”.
“At that time he kissed on my forehead when I fed him,” she recounted.
After having lunch, Maya recalled her son took a rest for a while and watched videos on his phone. In the meantime, the network went down.
