Abrar Fahad: A promising life cut short so brutally

Buet student Abrar Fahad always stood first in any examination throughout his school and college life which is evident in the results of his SSC and HSC examinations. But the life of such a bright star was cut short brutally at his own university.

Abrar, a 21-year-old student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), was found dead on the staircase of Sher-e-Bangla Hall of the university early Monday after some leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) beat him at room-2011 of the dormitory on Sunday night suspecting his link to Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir.

Buet student Abrar Fahad

Abrar’s talent started shining since his childhood. Since his primary school, he used to come first in all the examinations.

He attained Golden ‘A’ in his School Secondary Certificate (SSC) examination from Kushtia Zilla School in 2015. He enrolled in the science section at Notre Dame College and secured Golden ‘A’ in the High Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination in 2017 as well.

Afterwards, he got admitted to the Electrical and Electronic Engineering department of Buet under 2017-18 academic session. He used to stay at room-1011 of Sher-e-Bangla Hall.

Although Abrar stood second in the Dhaka University entry test and did well in medical admission test as well, he chose Buet as he wanted to become an electrical engineer.

Abrar’s uncle Mizanur Rahman said it is propaganda that Abrar was a Shibir activist. “It’s totally baseless….he was an open-minded and progressive boy. Our whole family is supporter of Awami League. Abrar used to attend Tablig’s programme once in a while.”

As a practising Muslim, Abrar used to pray five times a day and recite from Holy Quran regularly, he said.

Rokeya Khatun, Abrar’s mother, on Monday urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to take steps to ensure exemplary punishment of the killers of her son.

Stricken by grief over the death, she simply failed to understand how a gentle and meritorious boy like her son could have enemies.

“I woke Abrar up on Sunday morning and later he left for Dhaka. By the time, I talked to him 3-4 times on mobile phone. He called me at 5pm after he reached his hall. After that I couldn’t talk to him. Although I called him many times at night, he didn’t respond,” Abrar’s distraught mother said.

After Abrar was buried at his village at Raidanga in Kumarkhali upazila on Tuesday, his father Barkatullah alleged that it was a planned murder. “This is a planned murder. My boy reached Dhaka at 5pm. He was called out of his room at 8pm. Then he was tortured for six hours…this is surely a planned murder,” he said while struggling to hold back his tears.

Abrar’s uncle Mizanur Rahman alleged that the murder might have taken place at the order of a senior political leader. “There might be instigation of a leader. Over 15 boys took part in the killing mission. So many people can’t beat a person without any prior plan.”

Abrar Faiyaz, the younger brother of Abrar, said a friend of his brother first called them from Buet around 5:30am on Monday saying Abrar was seriously ill. “After a while we got the news that my brother is dead…can you imagine what my family members went through when they heard Abrar’s death news?