Who is the owner of the Gulshan flat that was vandalised?
The Gulshan flat, where an unruly mob stormed into on March 5 to search for imaginary guns, crores of cash, and Awami League supporters, belongs to my second eldest brother. His name is Rehman Sharif. We called him "mejobhai." Ten years ago, he had suddenly passed away from respiratory issues. His wife, Rosy Sharif, died in 2019. Subsequently, the flat went to their younger daughter. The mob went there under false pretences that the apartment belongs to ousted prime minister's adviser, late HT Imam's son Tanveer Imam. My brother's younger daughter was married to Tanveer Imam. They have been divorced for over 20 years now.
I really debated whether I should write this piece. No matter how difficult it is—when my family's good name and honour have been questioned by a lot of TV channels and mainstream newspapers in Dhaka—it falls on me to clear up the misinformation about the true proprietor of this flat. One must stand up to defend her family name.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Self-reliant, Rehman Sharif was a decorated business personality. He was well regarded, and highly respected in the business world. He had many honours and accolades given to him by the state and other reputable business organisations. After his passing, one of my former editors, Fazal M Kamal had confided in me that he found Rehman Sharif gracious and charming when he went to meet him at the Dhaka Club to discuss an idea.
My benevolent mejobhai was hugely into philanthropy and donated a lot of his money to good causes. Rehman Sharif was one of the original innovators of the RMG sector in Bangladesh. He co-owned Lakhsma Sweaters Ltd. In his RMG factory in Gazipur, over 300 men/women of our village worked in a safe environment.
On the night of the mob attack, while reporting live, TV and newspaper outlets reduced my brother to a person with a single name like people in Myanmar, Indonesia, and most of the Afghans. He was simply referred to as "Rahman"—as the house owner. Some reporters called him ex-Awami League MP Tanveer Imam's ex-father-in-law, while others called him HT Imam's beai.
When misinformation spreads like wildfire, that is the crucial time to speak up, clarify the rumours, and demand answers. In saying that, I would like to bring into focus once again what had happened in the Concord Towers, a gated apartment building in Gulshan 2. It is a diplomatic zone. I cannot say with 100 percent certainty whether it was a case of mistaken identity or a pre-planned attack, which resulted in ransacking and looting valuable goods from the flat. The crowd had gathered earlier in the evening, and around midnight they broke the building's main gate. The front door had three locks. The mob took turns, and broke two locks. After that the housekeeper Mannan unlocked the third one from the inside. People chanting anti-AL slogans entered the flat. TV reporters with camera persons went in as well.
The turmoil inside the flat was telecast live. Police came in later. They did nothing to stop the looters. The flat was savagely ransacked after the mob stormed into the apartment, causing significant damage inside the flat through vandalism and looting.
We in the US had no idea that the whole incident was being broadcast live like a horror show as we were going on with our day. Call it the sixth sense—I reached out for my phone before I was heading out to the market to get iftar items. A video caption with HT Imam's name came to my attention. I turned on the video. The whole thing was surreal. On my mobile screen, I saw my brother's house was getting ransacked. I was in shock. In a daze, I just heard some names such as HT Imam, his son, guns, and cores of cash along with AL supporters hiding there. I had to steady myself, put the video on pause, and reached out to my older sister. I forwarded the video, and together we watched it in utter disbelief.
Rehman Sharif had no political affiliations. He had an interest in discussing politics with our cousin, journalist, and politicians like late Ahmadul Kabir. After returning from PAF College, Sargodha, mejobhai lived his life to the fullest. He was the managing director of German operated Hoechst Pharmaceuticals in Dhaka. After a few years, he quit his job to start his own RMG business. He was the only one in our family who went into business.
Ours has always been a totally nonpolitical family. Yet my brother's name was dragged into it because of some prior connection with the Imam family. His single name reported by the media as one Mr "Rahman" will be synonymous with the Gulshan flat attack—simply because his daughter was married to Tanveer Imam, a light-years-ago.
What l found appalling is how the media reports were full of errors, and how minimum effort was given to fact check. When the housekeeper Mannan opened the door, a reporter asked him whose house it was, and who lives there now. He clearly answered by saying my brother's name that this "house belongs to Rehman Sharif." After learning the fact, a simple rebuttal by saying an error has been made in identifying the real owner, and by stating my brother's full name correctly, would have restored his good name instantly.
Not only was it my brother's flat, but our mother also lived with him in the last years of her life. Seeing one of my mother's framed photos on a pile of rubble on the floor hit me like a thunderbolt. I really broke down and wept. I realised how unpredictable and unsafe life has become in Bangladesh. A good citizen's life and legacy can be desecrated based on false or made-up information.
How does a mob even enter a secure diplomatic zone at midnight? Why were the police just standing inside the flat, and letting the looters rob the place? I was told the police took two of my brother's vintage Rolex watches. How can police steal when they come to control the mob? Other valuables, including my niece's fine jewellery, were gone. Things were scattered and strewn in every room—everything was upside down.
I wonder if the interim government has any plan to stop mobs from spawning havocs in the city. We would like to hear more about the strategies that are in the works. We do not want another family to be victimised the way my brother's family was just because his daughter was once married to a corrupt MP.
Zeenat Khan is a contributor to South Asia based journals. She also writes short stories and nonfiction.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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