“He was an immigrant and a father. He drove a yellow cab to get his kids the best education our country can offer. He did everything right to achieve the American dream.”
This was a ‘Harvard dad’ as described by CNN. This was Bangladesh-born American yellow cab driver, Mohammad Zafar, who breathed his last at just 56 years old, leaving his dream half-done, leaving his three children in an apartment in Bronx, New York. The deadly coronavirus snatched happiness away from the family.
The number of deaths of Bangladeshis in the US has crossed 180 and the total coronavirus deaths in the country has already been four times higher than that of the heinous 1/11 attacks.
Zafar, as his son Mahtab told CNN, always “wanted to make sure that we understood the privilege and the opportunity we had of being in America… He wanted to make sure we used all of the opportunities and resources that were at our disposal. And part of that was having a very good education.”
Zafar fulfilled all the commitments he made to his family. The Land of Liberty gave him everything he wanted, but he could not complete the glorious journey. He could not see his children carrying out the codes of life he taught them. He never got respite to spend his later years, sharing happy moments with grandchildren. His dreams fell apart all of a sudden.
As of 22 April, 310 Bangladeshis died of the respiratory disease across the globe. Till 22 April, 79 died in the United Kingdom, 15 in Saudi Arabia, eight in Italy, six in Canada, five in Spain, four in Qatar, and one each in Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kenya, Libya and Gambia. Thousands of more are infected with the deadly virus.
Zafar is not an isolated incident of a broken heart and a shattered dream. Every member of the Bangladeshi diaspora across world left their motherland with a dream. The deadly COVID-19 virus destroyed the dreams half-way.
As of 22 April, 310 Bangladeshis died of the respiratory disease across the globe. Till 22 April, 79 died in the United Kingdom, 15 in Saudi Arabia, eight in Italy, six in Canada, five in Spain, four in Qatar, and one each in Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kenya, Libya and Gambia. Thousands of more are infected with the deadly virus. Every day the tally of deaths is piling up. The list includes doctors, engineer and even police officers. All of them were icons of their respective community. All of them were dreamers and they attained their dreams, settled down there and suddenly everything was snatched away.
Also Read
Pandemic & politics in colonial Bengal: Lessons from history
Every one of us has some dream to accomplish. A few of them come true while some remain dreams. But, those who migrated abroad they followed their dreams and were accomplished those. And then everything fell apart just out of the blue.
Bangladeshi-born Canadian engineer Jamal Ali migrated to the Great White North for a better life. Jamal also could not finish the race. Coronavirus killed him just at his 45. The virus left his two children fatherless and widowed his wife, a tragic end to their fairy tale. Toronto’s Bangladesh-born Ashraful Islam Omar also had a beautiful family. He was father of an 11-year-old son. The virus killed him at just 42.
Mohammad Chowdhury was an iconic police officer to the Bangladeshi community as well as the New York Police Department. He was the highest ranked Bangladesh-born American police officer. The virus killed him, too.
The dream-driven Bangladeshis went abroad following their dreams but, many of the dreams were crushed by the lethal pandemic. It is monster on this earth. Yet, it is the time to keep strong. As Samuel Beckett said, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
*Toriqul Islam is a journalist working at Prothom Alo. He can be reached at toriqul38@gmail.com.