By Md Mamun Islam

RANGPUR, May 25, 2025 (BSS) - Van puller Lablu Mia was shot dead by police while participating in the victory procession in the Uttara area of Dhaka city on August 5 last year, the day fascist Sheikh Hasina was overthrown.

His wife, Nurnahar Begum, 38, lives with two daughters, a son, and widow mother-in-law Lailey Begum, 80, in a rented house in the Mayabazar Mollatari Banderpar area of Haragachh municipality in Kawnia upazila of Rangpur.

Lablu's two daughters - Laizu Akhter Ziasmin, 17, and Liza Akhter Moniza, 14 - bind bidis and earn just Taka 39 per day each in order to make ends meet.

Before their father's martyrdom, Laizu and Liza somehow managed to study up to fifth and fourth grades, respectively.

Nur Habib, 11, the only son of landless and homeless martyr Lablu Mia, studied for only eight months after his admission to a madrasa in the Uttara area of Dhaka city just before his father's martyrdom. But now he does not know what awaits him in the days to come.

Born into a very poor family in the Mollatari Mayabazar area of Haragachh municipality in Kawnia upazila of Rangpur, Lablu Mia, 42, was unable to pursue any formal education.
 
However, even in the midst of extreme poverty since childhood, Lablu Mia thought about the welfare of the country and its people. He always felt bad whenever he heard about the hunger of poor and needy people, said his family members while recalling him.
 
He had to struggle all his life until his martyrdom to support his family. Although uneducated, he was a politically aware person. He had a deep hatred for corruption and corrupt people.
 
To support his family, Lablu sold fried nuts and chickpeas as a street hawker in Faridpur district for 10 years and drove a van on the streets of the capital for five years until his martyrdom.
 
Lablu believed that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had destroyed all state institutions, rigged elections to stay in power without the people's mandate, cheated the people, looted their money, and killed many innocent people, the family members said.

Lablu Mia often said that unless Sheikh Hasina's fascist regime was overthrown, the people of the country would not be able to progress and live a normal life.

When the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement began in July 2024, Lablu Mia was a little indifferent about driving his van and helping his elder brother, Dalu Mia, 36, who runs a scrap metal business in the capital's Uttara area.

Lablu Mia's poor father, Tayeb Ali, an employee of a local bidi factory, died about 20 years ago. He left only a thatched house on his three decimals of land.

His mother, Lailey Begum, now 80, is suffering from various old-age complications.

From childhood, martyr Lablu Mia, the third child among the five sons and two daughters of his parents, struggled against poverty to survive.
Failing to earn a livelihood in his village, Lablu Mia left home for Faridpur about 15 years ago.

"After reaching the unfamiliar Faridpur town, Lablu had to spend nights at the bus stand or railway station. He didn't even have money for food. Unable to find a job, he started selling nuts and fried chickpeas on the roadside as a street vendor," said Dalu Mia.

After moving to Faridpur 15 years ago in 2010, Lablu lived there with his family for 10 years.

Later, in 2020, he moved to Dhaka and lived with his family in a rented house in the Hashu Battala area near Balur Math in Uttara Sector 15 until his martyrdom on August 5, 2024.

Lablu used to bring scrap materials from different areas of the capital in his van to his brother Dalu's shop.

Dalu was using his shop's machines to compress them into small pieces and then selling them to various companies as processed scrap, which included used polythene and old metal items.

The business was going well, and the two brothers' families, with their children, began to live a better life in their respective rented houses in the capital's Uttara area.

After Lablu's martyrdom, Dalu's business also collapsed for various reasons. Families of the two brothers had to return to their ancestral village in Rangpur.

Dalu now works as a mason in a team for a daily wage of Taka 500 and lives as a paying guest in another mason's rented house in the Ghorashal area of Gazipur district.
 
"During the July-August uprising, Lablu was participating in the protest marches of the anti-discrimination student-people's movement every day. In his absence, my business was suffering due to failure to bring scrap materials to my shop," Dalu said.

Lablu's wife, Nurnahar Begum, said she married Lablu in 2002.

"I used to work in different houses while I was in Faridpur and Dhaka city to help my husband Lablu Mia run our poverty-stricken family. Despite the poverty, we were happy with what we got. We tried our best to feed our children," she said.

Like every day, on August 5, 2024, at 7 am, Nurnahar went to a house in the Uttara area to cook and do other chores.

She was feeling upset in the morning after having a dream early that morning. She guessed that something wrong was waiting for them.

"At the same time, Lablu, who was sleeping in the other room, also had a dream and laughed out loud that everyone was awake. But he couldn't share the dream with me because I went out early in the morning while Lablu was asleep," she said.

Having finished all the household chores quickly, Nurnahar returned home around 3 pm, when Lablu was already outside.

"At this time, Lablu learnt that fascist Hasina had fled the country and her fascist regime was overthrown. He immediately went out and joined the victory procession on the streets with thousands of students and people," said Nurnahar.

Citing witnesses, Dalu Mia said that Lablu proceeded with a huge victory procession to the airport area. Then, he was returning with a procession of thousands of students and the public on the airport road.

"While passing through the Purba Azimpur police station in the Azimpur area of Uttara, the police opened indiscriminate fire on the procession around 4 pm, resulting in the killing and injury of many students and the public," Lablu said.

"One of his acquaintances who was with Lablu was shot in the knee, another was shot in the stomach, and Lablu died on the spot after being shot in the head," said Dalu, quoting the two other injured companions of Lablu.

Being informed, around 6 pm, Nurnahar, her housekeeper lady and her female relative, and Dalu Mia, along with other people, rushed to the KC Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in the capital's Uttara area.

"We found Lablu's body among 30 to 40 bodies stockpiled there, some of which were still alive. We received the body at 7 pm and brought the body in a rickshaw home at 7:30 pm," said Dalu, crying.

"Hiring an ambulance for Taka 27,000, we left Dhaka city with the body at 11:55 pm and came to our native home in Rangpur at 5:30 am on August 6," he said.
Lablu's Namaj-e-Janaza was held at Mayabazar Eidgah ground at 5:30 pm, where about 500 people from different walks of life participated. He was buried at the family graveyard at 6 pm on the same day.

"I want justice for the killers of my innocent husband," she said.

"My heart breaks and I lose hope when I see my two malnourished daughters doing unhealthy things like binding bidis all day to earn only Taka 39 per day to support me," said Nurnahar sadly.