SM Sarfuuddin. Photo : Collected

By Barun Kumar Das
 
DHAKA, June 3, 2025 (BSS) -  Fifty-five-year-old SM Sarfuuddin, a wooden furniture businessman from the old Dhaka area, was returning home after Isha prayers on the night of August 5, 2024.
 
While talking to BSS at her residence in Bangshal Haji Abdullah Road Lane in the capital, Selina Khatun, 51, said that her husband was shot dead by police at Bangshal intersection during the anti-discrimination student movement on August 5.
 
Sarfuuddin’s widow Selina Khatun, 51,  is still confined with profound shock of her husband’s  death.    
 
 Martyred  Sarfuuddin had a happy family with his three children and wife. The eldest daughter Sumaiya Uddin Shifa, 23, was a second-year honors student. She recently got married to the bridegroom of Sarfuuddin's choice.
 
Two children of Darfuuddin are  Sanjiba Uddin Shikha, 17  and Siam Uddin Sourav, 13, are students.  They need financial supports for continuing their studies.     
 

Selina said, "My husband was the only earner in the family. He used to take care of all the expenses, starting from the education of our three children. I am a housewife. Now I don't understand how the family will run. Who will take care of my children?"
 
In the face of a huge student movement, fascist Sheikh Hasina resigned on August 5. She then fled the country to India.
 
After hearing this news, millions of students and ordinary people across the country, including the capital Dhaka, started rejoicing.
 
However, while the victory celebrations are going on across the country, chases and gunfire were still going on between the police and the general people at Bangshal intersection.
 
At one stage, SM Sarfuuddin was shot dead in the capital’s Bangshal area. 

Sarfuuddin's house is in Abdul Aziz Lane of Lalbagh police station in old Dhaka. But he used to live in Bangshal with his family.
 
Sharif Mia's canteen was quite famous in Dhaka University in the 1960s and 1970s. Sharif Mia was a well-known face at that time. Businessman Sarfuuddin is his son.
 
Sarfuuddin used to run a shop called Noor Traders in Bangshal area. He used to sell wooden doors and windows of various designs there.
 
Sarfuuddin was martyred on August 5. He was buried at Azimpur graveyard around noon on August 6.
 
Describing the events of that day, Shaheed Sarfuuddin's wife Selina said, after Sheikh Hasina's resignation, she thought everything would be normal. There would be no more shooting anywhere. But there was shooting that night too.
 
“After hearing the news, I rushed to Bangshal intersection. When I went there, I heard that my husband's body had been taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). I went there with my brother. I saw my husband's body lying there,” she said.
 
Expressing her anger, she said, "I don't do politics, I don't understand politics. We are ordinary people. I have lost our husband. The Awami League regime is responsible for this. I want capital punishment of Sheikh Hasina."
 
Meanwhile, the family had to fight for Sarfuuddin's death certificate. Family members had protested at various offices for the certificate. But no action was taken immediately at that time.
 
Later, they filed an application with the director of DMCH on September 3 for a death certificate.
 
Expressing anger, Selina Khatun said, "My husband's death certificate was very important at that time. But the DMCH authority was not giving it to us. They said the admission serial number is required.”
 
She said, “But the serial number sticker attached to my husband's body during admission got soaked in blood. So, I could not keep it for collection. And my husband was shot, he was dying, then why do you have to collect that paper?”
 
“I asked just to look at the register book dated August 5. But we were being harassed repeatedly until getting the death certificate of my husband,” she said.
 
Like Selina Khatun, Sarfuuddin's children also want their father's killers to be brought to justice.
 
The younger daughter, Sanjiba Uddin Shikha, said, "We held a joyous procession after hearing the news of fascist Sheikh Hasina's downfall on August 5. We visited various areas including TSC, Central Shaheed Minar and Dhaka University.”
 
She said, “After returning home from the joyous procession, we had dinner with my father. Later, my father went out to offer Isha prayers. Around 9 pm, I received news that my father was being shot at Bangshal intersection.
 
"I want justice for my father's murder. I want justice for those who have made us fatherless. Our education has stopped due to the absence of our father. I will appeal to the government to make arrangements for us so that we can continue our education," she said.
 
An on-site visit to Bangshal's house revealed that Sarfuuddin's wife was living in a small room on the ground floor with her two children.
 
The widowed Selina Khatun appealed to the government to take responsibility for her children's education and her family.
 
She said, "The void created by my husband's death can never be filled. However, if the government takes responsibility for my family and covers the education costs of my children, then this difficult situation will at least be relieved."
 
"Actually, it is very difficult to talk about the situation and suffering that day. I cannot look at the faces of the children. I pray to Almighty Allah that no other family has to face such problems," she said. 
 
Regarding her expectations from the interim government, she said, "I want a safe future for my children. I want to teach them to read and write properly. ”
 
“I appeal to the government to take measures considering the future of my children," she said, and demanded that all those who were killed in the anti-discrimination student-public movement be given the status of martyrs by the state,” she said.
 
Sarfuuddin's cousin Nasir Uddin said, "Sarfuuddin was a very good person. He used to do business. He used to offer five-time prayers everyday and recite the Holy Quran. We spent our childhood together. There are so many memories.”
 
“When I close my eyes, he comes to my mind. He himself has become a memory now. Whenever I think of him, my eyes get wet," he said.
 
Sarfuuddin's brother-in-law Md Ripon said, “My brother-in-law was never involved in politics. We can’t accept his death like this. We can’t look at the faces of my sister, nephew and nieces.”