News Flash
By Barun Kumar Das
DHAKA, May 20, 2025 (BSS) - Khalid Hasan Saifullah was interested in playing cricket since childhood. Khalid was the eldest of two sons and a daughter in the family.
The whole family had no shortage of efforts to fulfill his hobby and desire.
His talent in cricket spread to the neighborhood. He became the champion in inter-school cricket games. He used to bat well. His desire was to become a cricketer.
But dozens of rubber bullets fired by police during the July 18 anti-discrimination student-public movement shattered that dream in an instant.
Khalid died on the spot and had 70 pellet wounds to his body.
These are the words of Shahid Saifullah's father, Kamrul Hasan.
He recently spoke to BSS at the Amligola Ma-Moni Homeopathy Pharmacy in Lalbagh area of the capital city.
He said, "Khalid was a very sociable boy. He came as a blessing in our lives. He was a very talented student. He became a champion in inter-school cricket. He loved playing cricket. He wanted to become a cricketer, but that hope was not fulfilled."
Khalid Hasan Saifullah, 17, one of the martyrs of the anti-discrimination student-public movement, was a first-year intermediate student of the Humanities Group at Dhanmondi Ideal College in the capital Dhaka.
During the anti-discrimination student-public movement, police opened fire on a peaceful procession of students and public in front of Building No 7 of the Azimpur government residential area around 6 pm on July 18.
Saifullah was shot and injured critically. He was later taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the doctor on duty declared him dead.
Saifullah was born on May 29, 2008, in Amligola, Lalbagh, Dhaka. His father, Kamrul Hasan, 48, is a madrasa teacher. He is also a homeopathic doctor.
The father, who was turned to stone by the grief of losing his eldest son, has no words. Even after almost 10 months, he has not been able to return to normal. The same is true for other family members.
Kamrul Hasan said that Khalid was active in the ant-discrimination student movement from the first day.
But that day, Khalid Hasan Saifullah had left his house in Amligola to offer Asr prayers at Azimpur Chapra Mosque. He was returning home after finishing the prayers between 5:30 pm and 6 pm.
At that time, the police also entered the Azimpur government staff quarter and opened fire while chasing the protesters. Although the area is protected, Khalid was shot. There were at least 70 shotgun pellets on Khalid's body.
Saifullah told his mother that he was going to the mosque to offer Asr prayers and left home.
“But when I returned home after finishing my chamber at 11 pm, his mother said that Saifullah had not returned home after finishing his prayers,” Kamrul Hasan said.
He said, “I called his mobile phone. A stranger picked up the phone and told me to go in front of the Amligola Makkah Hotel. When I got there, he gave me my son's mobile phone. They didn't even know my son's name.”
They took Kamrul Hasan to DMCH. They went there and went to the morgue. He found the bodies of many boys of the same age in the morgue. It was there that Kamrul Hasan identified his son's body.
He said, "When I went to DMCH, I saw there about 18/19 bodies piled up in a small room, all aged between 16 to 18 years. I found my son's body on one side. The boy was wearing a brown Punjabi, white pajamas, and a cap. No one had taken them off."
Kamrul Hasan said, "How cruel, merciless, and stone-like Khalid Saifullah was killed. There were 70 bullet marks on his body."
While describing the incident that day, Kamrul Hasan further said, first, on the orders of local MP Solaiman Selim, his armed terrorists shot his child in the head.
Then, on the orders of local councilor Habibur Rahman Manik, 6/7 policemen ran and shot Khalid 70 times in the chest and stomach from a distance of two to three feet.
When the police moved away a little, when the students were taking him to the hospital, Irfan Selim and some armed terrorists stopped him.
“At this time, Khalid bled profusely. At one point, he became lethargic. Later, he was allowed to be taken to the hospital. When he was taken to the hospital, the doctor on duty declared him dead,” said Kamrul Hassan, crying.
Saifullah's father further said, "I have been in a daze since I heard the news of Khalid's death on July 18. It is impossible to explain how helpless we feel. It seems that our physical strength has also gone along with our son. We are in a very weak state now."
In addition to the pain of losing his son, Khalid's father also shared another bitter experience of that time, saying, "I will cry, my heart was bursting. I had no choice. We were more worried about finding our son's body.”
“After going around the house, police station, and DMCH morgue from the night of July 18, we got my son's body on July 21. Later, on July 22, we buried him at the Soraibari graveyard in Bhanga upazila of Faridpur,” said Kamrul Hassan.
He said, "When I first saw him in the morgue, how could I explain what happened to me inside? Seventy pellet holes in his body! My son was so young. When Khalid's mother called me at night and asked, 'Are you bringing my son?'
“What could I answer? Khalid's mother and sister were crying and almost fainting. I could not express my emotions in any way. I had to stay strong. The boy used to pray five times a day. What else can I say about my son? All I can say is that my son was martyred," he said.
Kamrul Hasan said the eldest son of every family holds the dreams and memories of their life. The present and future plans are made around him.
“However, our plans and dreams were turned into dust by the firing of the terrorist police under the patronage of the tyrant Sheikh Hasina,” he said.
Stating that the trial of these brutal murders should be held on the soil of Bengal, Khalid's father said, arrangements should be made so that no more terrorists are created on the soil of Bengal.
“I would like to say on behalf of all the martyrs’ families, we do not want to see any more dictators in the throne of Bengal,” he said.
Calling on the interim government to accord national martyr status to those killed in the anti-discrimination student-public movement, he said, "I want the families of each martyr to receive Taka one crore and provide them with housing."
Meanwhile, on August 19, Khalid Hasan Saifullah's father, Kamrul Hasan, filed a murder case with Lalbagh Police Station over the death of Khalid in police firing.
Ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former local MP Haji Selim have been named as accused in the case.
