A dream shot down by pellets

Asif Hasan dreamed of completing his studies and becoming a government administration cadre officer.

That dream, however, is never to come true, as the fourth semester English student of Northern University, lost his life to shotgun pellets lodged in his chest.

He and at least eight others were killed and several hundreds were injured during the violent clashes between quota reform protesters and law enforcers, who were assisted by ruling Awami League activists, in the capital's Uttara on Thursday.

Asif's father, who lost his wife to a motorcycle accident in March 2013, has been silenced by numbness, Moniruzzaman, the victim's cousin and a teacher of Hadipur Ahsania High School, told The Daily Star over phone yesterday.

He said Asif had called his sister, who lives in Khilgaon, around 11:30am, saying he was at the protest and was in a safe distance from the violence.

"Then suddenly he said he was going to give some water to an injured student who had collapsed on the road. He cut the line and rushed to wounded student with a bottle of water, when police fired pellets at him from a close range. He died moments later.

"He was a brilliant student and dreamt of becoming a BCS [admin] cadre officer, but his life was cut short. His chest sustained around 200-300 pellets," Monuruzzaman said as he held back his tears.

Asif had gotten GPA-5 in both SSC and HSC exams from the science group.

The air in Askarpur village, in Satkhira's Debhata upazila, hung heavy as Asif's body reached his home around 1:30am yesterday in an ambulance.

Asif was buried at his family graveyard around 7:00am.

He had three elder sisters and a twin brother Rakib. For a large part of their lives, they had to grow up without their mother after her death.

Md Abu Hasan, a teacher of Nalta High School where Asif studied, fondly remembered his student.

"Whenever his father came to the school, he would request me to take special care of Hasan and his siblings, saying they were deprived of a mother's love…He was a polite young boy and never raised his voice to anyone."

"A pall of gloom has taken over our village…Asif was a polite boy. His death has shocked us all," Sirajul Islam, a resident of Askarpur said.