Martyr Safwan Aktar Sadya- Photo: BSS

SAVAR, May 26, 2025 (BSS) - The parents of martyr Safwan Aktar Sadya, a 10th-grade science student at Savar Cantonment Public School and College, have been left devastated after losing their only son in the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ending nearly 16 years of her authoritarian rule.

Fifteen-year-old Sadya was shot dead in the afternoon on August 5 when he joined the victory procession with his friends after Sheikh Hasina fled the country in face of the massive student-people uprising.

According to his family members, Sadya was brilliant-he won a talent pool scholarship in fifth grade-and was kind from a young age.

Alongside studies, Sadya was a music lover and pious, and he never missed his five-time prayers. His father, Akhtaruzzaman Liton, is a veterinary doctor, and his mother, Khadija Binte Zubaid, is a homemaker. His only and elder sister, Atiya Zaman Tisma, is speech-impaired.

Talking to BSS, Sadya's grief-stricken father said Sadya was eager to join the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement from the beginning but was not allowed to leave home to join the protest. Therefore, he used to go to the rooftop of their building to watch the student movement and plead with his parents to let him go outside.

"It broke my heart to see his restlessness to go outside. He used to ask me, 'Baba, what is this movement about?' I told him it was about quota reform (in government jobs)," Dr Liton recalled.

Recalling the memories of that fateful day, he said on 5 August, when news spread that thousands of students and people were marching toward Dhaka via the Dhaka-Aricha highway, he himself, along with others, including his neighbour Abu Sayeed, a banker, went to the roadside to witness the movement.

At that time, the Dhaka-Aricha highway had turned into a virtual human sea with the presence of thousands of people from all walks of life, Dr Liton added.

"Therefore, I called my wife, asking her to let Sadya come down to the highway. Then Sadya ran with joy and joined us on the roadside. At that time, we all were waving at the marchers heading toward Dhaka," he recounted.

Soon after, Dr Liton said, news spread that the Army Chief would give a speech around 2pm, but nothing aired. "We came to know that the Army Chief would address the people around 4pm," he said, adding, by that time the news had spread that Sheikh Hasina had resigned and fled the country.

At that time, the streets were flooded with people. Sadya and his father, too, joined the victory procession that took position, reaching the Pakija area in Savar.

"Around 4pm, my wife called me to return home with Sadya for lunch. On the way back, Sadya ran into his friends and decided to stay behind. He said he would eat later," recalled Dr Liton.

"I thought the danger had passed, so I left him there," Sadya's grieving father said.

But when Sadya hadn't returned home by 8 pm, his parents became panicked. Therefore, Dr Liton and Sadya's tutor, Amit Saha, went searching for him-from bus stands to hospitals.

Around 9 pm, staff at Enam Medical College told them that some lifeless bodies had been left in a parking lot nearby. Amit rushed there-and found Sady.

Shortly after, Sadya's father reached there and fainted seeing his only son's lifeless body. Later, they received the body from the hospital with a death certificate and took the body to their village home in Jamalpur. Sadya was laid to his eternal rest at their family graveyard in Jamalpur on August 6.

Sadya's mother, Khadija, was inconsolable-fainting repeatedly as she spoke about her son.

"Sadya was different. Whoever has a child like him is blessed. He never disobeyed. With his sister unable to speak and his father often staying away, he took care of our home," she said in a voice trembling with grief.

Sadya regularly performed five-time prayers and observed fasting during the month of the Holy Ramadan. "My son was a very good boy," Khadija wailed.

Neighbour Abu Sayeed remembered Sadya fondly. "We've lived next to them for years. I never saw him speak harshly to anyone. Everyone in the neighbourhood adored him. He was a respectful and obedient boy," he said.

Since Sadya will never return, his father now finds solace in the state recognition of all martyrs in the July Uprising and proper treatment of the injured.

"I know my son will never return. I want everyone who lost their life in this movement to be honoured as martyrs. And I want the injured to return home with proper treatment. Only then will we feel a bit of peace," Dr Liton demanded.

Sadya's neighbours said children like him will never truly die. They will live for thousands of years in the hearts of the people-and in the pages of history.