The name of martyr Omar Faruk will be written in golden letters in the history of Bangladesh as he embraced martyrdom for the country during the anti-discrimination student-mass uprising which ousted fascist Sheikh Hasina ending her 15 years of autocratic rule.
Omar Faruk, the eldest son of Abdul Kaleque, a farmer of village Charigaon Para under Bakaljura union of Durgapur upazila in Netrakona district, was a student of honors third-year of Kazi Kobi Nazrul Islam Government College in Dhaka.
Faruk joined the anti-discrimination student movement in Dhaka since the movement started in July with a dream to build up the country as a discrimination-free state.
But Omar Faruk was shot dead by police, so he could not see the victory of the students-people and the fall of the autocratic government of fascist and killer Sheikh Hasina, Abdul Kaleque, the grief-stricken father of martyr Faruk, told BSS.
"My son had a dream to be a big officer to render service for changing the lifestyle of the people and build up the country as a discrimination and corruption-free country- - - but, a bullet shattered all of his dreams - - - my son returned to us as a 'dead body," he said breaking down into tears.
Describing the tragedy, Abdul Kaleque said quoting the witnesses that in the morning of July 19, 2024, Faruk along with his friends including Mohammad Alauddin and local people joined the movement in the Lakkibazer area of the old part of the capital like other days.
"They were in a procession and continued chanting slogans against the fascist and autocrat Sheikh Hasina till the afternoon of the day and at that time, they moved forward to the capital Goli area of Lakkibazer by breaking the barricades of police. At that time, police opened fire indiscriminately targeting the protesters of the movement,” he added.
Then, a bullet hit the right chest of Omar Faruk and he fell down on the street", he said with tearful eyes.
"At the time, my son's friends including Mohammad Alauddin rescued him from the street in an unconscious state and took him to a private hospital at Gandaria by a rickshaw within about an hour, but there was no doctor in the hospital. Later, he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital through a rickshaw where attending doctors declared him dead," he lamented.
Later, his body reached at my village home on the night of July 21 with the help of his friends and my relatives and he was buried hurriedly on the night at the local graveyard after holding a Namaj-e-Janaza there under police cordon, he continued.
"I never get back my beloved son - - - but I feel proud of him as he made the supreme sacrifice for the country- - - the country's people would ever remember him as his name would be written in golden letters in the country's history", he added in an emotion choked voice.
Talking to this BSS correspondent, martyr Faruk's mother Kulsum Aktar Khatun demanded exemplary punishment of her son's killers including fascist Sheikh Hasina.
"I want proper justice- - -I want the death penalty of my son's killers including fascist Sheikh Hasina," she said crying out loudly.
When contacted, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Durgapur upazila M Rakibul Hasan told BSS that the name of Omar Faruk has already been enlisted in the list of martyrs of the anti-discrimination student-mass movement.
Meanwhile, Netrakona district administration and upazila administrations have already extended financial assistance to his family, the UNO added.
