The death of mobile mechanic Sohel during the student movement leaves his family in despair

The death of mobile mechanic Sohel during the student movement leaves his family in despair

DHAKA, September 2, 2024 (BSS) – Mobile mechanic Sohel Miah was shot dead outside his residence in Shanir Akhra area of ​​the city on July 20, leaving his family in great despair.


Sohel, 35, lived with his wife Ayesha Akhter and three-and-a-half-year-old son Hazrat in a rented house in Shanir Akhra area of ​​the city. He ran a shop called 'Sohel Telecom' in RS Tower Market.


Sohel was the son of Suruj Miah and Hasna Ara of Alhari Durgapur village in Mathbari Union in Trishal upazila of Mymensigh district. He was the eldest of two brothers and two sisters.


Sohel sold and repaired various mobile phone parts. His younger brother Jewel Mia also worked with him.


Sohel Mia's entire family is heartbroken and speechless over his tragic death. The family is very worried about how they will survive the next few days. Sohel has always helped his parents' family and his younger brother.


Speaking to BSS, Sohel's younger brother Jewel Mia said his brother was shot dead outside his house in Shanir Akhra area.


“That day, my brother came to my house around 11 a.m. and told us that the market where his shop was located was closed,” he said.


Sohel's parents, who also live in Shanir Akhra with his younger brother Jewel Mia, came to his house that day bringing jackfruit and mangoes. Later, Sohel bought a sack of rice from a shop outside his house.


“My brother told us that the situation in the country was not good. But he left the house at around 11:30 a.m. that day,” Jewel said, adding that his brother was reportedly shot dead by law enforcement officers outside his house at around 5:30 p.m.


“Later we went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and found my brother dead. Our entire family was wiped out by a single gunshot,” he said.


Sohel was later buried on July 22 at his village cemetery in Alhari Durgapur in Trishal upazila of Mymensigh district.


Jewel noted that his older brother Sohel raised him and his two sisters and said that their old father was so sick and could not earn any money.


“So my brother was the only one who earned the living for the whole family,” he added.


“I worked in my brother's shop. But after my brother's death, his wife sold everything in the shop and went to her father's house with her son. Now I have started pulling a rickshaw without finding any other way,” said Jewel.

It is worth mentioning that students across the country staged demonstrations demanding quota reforms in government jobs. However, the leaders and activists of Chhatra League, the student wing of the recently ruling Awami League party, were incited to suppress the student movement without resolving the issue in a logical manner.


At the same time, law enforcement authorities took tougher action against the students on the instructions of the previous government.


For example, Abu Sayeed, a student of the English Department at Begum Rokeya University, was brutally killed by indiscriminate police firing in Rangpur on July 16. A total of six people died across the country that day.


After this incident, people from all walks of life joined the student movement as part of the anti-discrimination movement. Gradually, this movement developed into a mass uprising of the students and the people demanding the overthrow of the Awami League government.


In the course of suppressing the student movement, cadres of the Awami League and its affiliated organizations, as well as law enforcement agencies, brutally killed hundreds of people across the country.


During this movement, members of the law enforcement agencies were also killed by angry crowds. Thousands of people were seriously injured during this movement and are being treated in various hospitals across the country.


Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign as Prime Minister and leave the country in the face of the ‘Bangla Basanta’, also known as the ‘Red Revolution’, which was launched by the anti-discrimination movement of students and in which various democratic political parties and people from different walks of life and professions essentially participated.


After the successful mass uprising of the students and the population, parliament was dissolved and an interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel Prize winner in economics Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus as the most important advisor.


Various organizations are currently holding demonstrations demanding the production of those involved in various irregularities, corruption, mismanagement, murder, genocide and enforced disappearances during the overthrown AL government.