By Ismail Ahsan

DHAKA, June 2, 2025 (BSS) – A Little child of martyred Mahmudur Rahman Khan Sohel (45), runs towards the gate for father when someone rings calling bell at their house.      

Mahmudur Rahman Khan Sohel (45), senior official at Etihad Airways and managing director of Nostrum Hospital, will never return home again as he gave his life standing up for justice during July uprising.

On the afternoon of August 4, despite a prestigious career and comfortable life in the upscale Uttara neighborhood of Dhaka, Sohel, driven by conscience, joined the streets — a decision that ultimately cost him his life, as he could not stay silent when he saw bullets being fired at students. 

Hours after joining, Sohel was shot in the head by law enforcers in front of Bonoful Mistanno Bhandar near Azampur Bus Stand, his body collapsing onto the pavement where it lay for a prolonged time amid continuous gunfire that kept his fellow protesters at bay.

He had everything — a prestigious job, a loving family, a home in Uttara — but Mahmudur Rahman Khan Sohel gave it all up when his conscience called him to the street, where a bullet silenced him forever.

His youngest daughter, barely a toddler, still rushes to the gate whenever the doorbell rings — believing, somehow, her father will return. But he never does.

Born in Trishkahonia village in Rupganj, Narayanganj, Sohel was the son of the late Md. Lutfor Rahman Khan and Suraiya Akhter Khanam. A father of three — Masnun (12), Safa (10), and little Marwa Sura, who was only 16 months old when he died — Sohel’s family now lives with memories, grief, and the weight of his sacrifice.

On August 4, the day before the movement’s symbolic victory, Sohel was shot in the head at Azampur Bus Stand near Rabindrasmarani in Uttara while standing with protesting students. His body lay motionless on the street for some time due to ongoing gunfire, making rescue efforts risky. He died five days later, on August 9, at 11:00 pm at United Hospital’s ICU.

Speaking to BSS, Sohel’s wife, Moriyam Khanam Rakhi (36), recalled his final words. “Before he left that day, he called his friend Ibrahim Khalil Rony and said, ‘I can’t stay home anymore; my conscience won’t let me. I’m going to the movement. If I survive, we will meet again,” she said. 

She continued tearfully, “He used to ask all the time, ‘Doesn’t anyone feel a prick of conscience seeing what’s happening?’ He couldn’t tolerate the injustice anymore. Every day he would take food and water for the protesting students — biryani, snacks, whatever he could manage. Even when his office offered him the option to work from home, he couldn’t stay in.”

Describing her family's current hardship, she added, “He was our only earning member. I have a bachelor’s degree. If I could find a job, I could try to raise my children with dignity. He raised them in comfort; I just don’t want them to become a burden to society or the state.”

Her father, who was hospitalized following open-heart surgery at the time of Sohel’s death, sat nearby, silently crying as she spoke.

Sohel’s son, Masnun, expressed a quiet maturity beyond his years. “Allah will surely reward my father. He was a good, honest man. He helped people all his life. In our village, he built mosques, madrasas, schools, and colleges. I heard that good people are taken early by Allah — but I never thought he would leave us so soon.”

Tears welling in her eyes, Rakhi added, “It hurts to think my children won’t be able to call out ‘Baba’ and run to him. But when I see others in pain, I feel that his death wasn’t in vain. Maybe all this happened for a greater good.”

Engineer Talha Zubair, who was at the scene on August 4, said, “He was always with us during the movement. We were shocked that someone from such a privileged background would stand beside us like that. After he was shot, we took huge risks just to get his body out of the street and into Bangladesh Medical College. Later, he was moved to Hi-Tech Hospital and then to United Hospital, Gulshan where he breathed his last on August 9.”

After his death, Sohel was laid to rest beside his mother at the Mirpur-11 graveyard, following a funeral in his birthplace Rupganj.