Why should I cry for justice?

Unable to do anything about her son’s pain, the crying mother could only touch Riad’s head with love yesterday as most of his body is burnt and bandaged. Riad has been in the burn unit of DMCH since last Thursday when pickets hurled a petrol bomb into his bus near Shahbagh. Photo: Palash Khan

This time it is a son, whose sole purpose was to find his father gone missing two and a half years ago.
Dhaka College student Ohidur Rahaman Babu, a victim of last Thursday’s arson attack on a bus near Shahbagh, died yesterday at 4:45am in the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
He had suffered 28 percent body burn and was put on life support about three days ago.

Ohidur Rahaman Babu

With Babu, the number of deaths from the Shahbagh bus arson rose to three. Last Friday, cousins Nahid and Robin died.
Arson attacks claimed a total of 11 victims during opposition alliance’s hartals and blockades since October 26.
First-year student Babu was confident that he would survive the ordeal. He kept promising to his mother that as soon as he is released from the hospital, he would resume search for his father.
“Why should I cry for justice when I know there would be none? I did not get justice for my husband, how I can expect it for my son?” the lament of sexagenarian Saleha Begum, Babu’s mother, tore apart the silence in the hospital.
“Your father left me. Now you are leaving. With whom will I survive?” she said to herself as tears rolled down her eyes.
When Babu was brought to the              hospital, he was crying in pain, but                somehow kept managing to talk about his missing father.
Learning that this correspondent was a journalist, he started telling the story of how his father had been kidnapped. “I talk to journalists all the time hoping they will help me find him,” he had said.
He had even asked this correspondent to add him up on Facebook, promising he would accept the friend request there once he regained the use of his hands.
On Thursday, Babu was heading towards Shahbagh on a bus of Bihanga Paribahan from Bangabazar. Two arsonists on a motorbike hurled a petrol bomb at the bus, leaving 19 injured.
Mujibur Rahaman, Babu’s elder brother who sat through the hours at his beside, described his dying moments.
“Around 3:45am, Babu’s limbs started twisting and jerking. Immediately, I called in a doctor although the ICU staff were then asleep. He passed away on my lap,” he said.
His body was taken to his native village at Begumganj in Noakhali.
Babu’s death drew a large crowd on the hospital premises.

People take part in the namaz-e-janaza of Dhaka College student Ohidur Rahman Babu in front of the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday. Family members of Babu in tears as they take his body to his village home in Begumganj, Noakhali. Last Thursday, blockade pickets hurled a petrol bomb inside Babu’s bus near Shahbagh in the capital. He is the third person in the bus to die of the burns. Photo: Palash Khan / Focus Bangla

In reaction to his death, Dhaka College students in the evening went on the rampage and vandalised two to three vehicles in front of New Market. Police, however, denied the incident.
Meanwhile, two more arson victims from Gazipur were brought in to the DMCH burn unit early yesterday.
Bus driver Al Amin, 28, and his helper Solaiman, 25 had dropped off all their passengers in Malekabari of Gazipur around 8:00pm Tuesday, when they were stopped by two youths.
The youths hurled a petrol bomb at the driver, giving him 25 percent burns and the helper 10 percent burns.
Al Amin is in a critical condition.