By Barun Kumar Das
 
DHAKA, May 20, 2025 (BSS) - Huzaifa Akand has been sitting at home
drawing pictures of martyrs of the anti-discrimination student-public movement.
 
Since his father's death, whenever he gets time, he draws pictures of various
martyrs in the anti-fascist movement, including martyr Abu Sayeed and Mughdo.
 
Seven-year-old minor boy Huzaifa is a first-grade student of Azimpur Little
Angels School in the capital city.
 
He is unable to accept his father's death at all. He talks about his father repeatedly.
He does not even want to eat anything in grief for his father.
 
Huzaifa is always upset. Sometimes he starts crying when he thinks of his father.
He keeps crying.
 
Shahnaz, the wife of Shaheed Abdul Wadud, a cloth merchant who was shot
dead by police in the New Market area of the capital during the anti-
discrimination student movement, said this while talking to BSS at her father's
government quarters in the capital's Polashi area.
 
She said the boy is seven years old. Ever since his father died, he has always been
upset. Whenever he gets time, he starts drawing various pictures of the anti-
discrimination movement.
 
He doesn't want to eat anything, and starts crying whenever he remembers his
father. He doesn't want to accept that his father has gone to the court of Allah
Almighty.
 
“The little child doesn't want to understand. What should I do with the boy?
Actually, I am very worried about the boy's future. His father spent everything he
earned from business on the family. He couldn't leave anything behind,” she said.
 
Hearing the news of this BSS reporter going to his house, Abdul Wadud's only
son Huzaifa Akand was standing at the bottom of the stairs of the house.
 
When the reporter asked him how he was doing, he didn't answer at first and just
looked into his eyes.
 
Later, he was asked, "Do you miss your father a lot?"
 
He didn't say anything, just nodded his head and said, "Hum."
 
After that, he slowly said, "My father has gone to the sky. My father has become a
star in the sky."
 
Later, he took the BSS reporter to the room and showed him pictures drawn by
him in the context of various incidents of the anti-discrimination movement.
 
Shahnaz said, "The boy lost his father at such a young age. My father was a
government employee. He has also retired. I don't do any job. How long will I
stay in my father's family? How will I teach my son to read and write?”
 
She said, “If I go to his education, it will cost a lot of money. Where will I get the
money for that expense? Ours was a low-income family. We struggled to make
ends meet. What will the boy's future be now?"
 
While describing the incident that day, Shahnaz said, "On the evening of July 19,
Abdul Wadud was shot dead by the police.
 
“That afternoon, he had left home to pray in the mosque. A lot of time was
passing. Again, the situation outside was not going well. I was worried a lot. In
the meantime, he called me and told me that he would come home after Maghrib
prayers,” she said.
 
Saying this, he hung up.
 
She said, “After two to three minutes, his phone rang again. I answered the phone
and heard another person's voice.Then he asked me, "What is your relationship
with the owner of this phone number?"
 
“When I asked what happened, the man said that my husband was shot in the
head. Then I could not hear what he was saying anymore,” Shahnaz said
 
Later, she told her brother about the incident. Her brother went there and took her
husband to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
 
When my husband was taken to DMCH, the doctor on duty declared him dead.
 
Shaheed Abdul Wadud was born on January 1, 1986 in Bakerganj, Barisal. He
had a clothes shop in Priyangon Shopping Center in the New Market area.
 
Abdul Wadud was the third of two brothers and two sisters. His father Taher Ali
Akand, 68, and mother Majeda Begum, 60.
 
Abdul Wadud and Shahnaz got married on January 7, 2013. Their only son
Huzaifa Akand was born in 2017.
 
Wadud used to live with his wife and son in his father-in-law's government
quarters in Palashi.
 
Shahnaz, said, "At first, the hospital authority did not give the body of my
husband, and was causing a lot of trouble. Later, on July 21, he handed over the
body to us. That afternoon, we took it to Bakerganj, Barisal, and buried it in the
local graveyard."
 
She said, "My husband was a very good man. He used to pray five times a day.
He wanted to follow the path of Allah. He was a patriot and loved the
motherland very much."
 
Shahnaz said, "All those who were killed in the anti-discrimination student-
public movement should be given the status of martyrs. Just saying martyrs in
words is not enough. Everyone should be given the status of martyrs in a state-
wide manner."
 
Martyr Abdul Wadud's father-in-law, retired government employee Abdur Rab
said, "I married Shahnaz only 12 years ago. I can't look at my grandson's face.
My son-in-law was a very good person. I only wish to Allah that she will be a
resident of Paradise."
 
Abdul Wadud's brother-in-law Abdur Rahman said, "It is very difficult to talk
about the situation and hardship of that day. My elder sister Shahnaz is always
upset. I can't look at my niece's face. I pray to Allah that no other family should
face such a problem."
 
On July 19, during the anti-discrimination student-public movement, the New
Market area in the capital city was a real battlefield. Due to the aggressive stance
of various government forces and government party cadres, many casualties
occurred.
 
That afternoon, businessman Abdul Wadud was killed in police firing in the
Nilkhet area of New Market police station.
 
A murder case was filed against 130 people, including former fascist Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul
Quader, in this incident.
 
Abdur Rahman, brother-in-law of Shaheed Wadud, filed the case with New
Market Police Station on August 21.