Abu Sayed ( bn, আবু সাঈদ; died 16 July 2024) was a Bangladeshi student activist who was shot dead by the Bangladesh Police on 16 July 2024, while participating in the

2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement The 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement was an anti-government and pro-democracy protest in Bangladesh, spearheaded primarily by Universities in Bangladesh, university students. Initially focused on restructuring discriminatory traditional ...

. Sayed was a student of

Begum Rokeya University Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR), formerly Rangpur University, is a government-financed public university in Bangladesh. It is the only general categorised university in Rangpur Division and the second public university in the region. It ...

and was involved in the protest in front of the university when the police engaged in lathi charges and opened fire on the students.

Early life

Abu Sayed grew up in Babanpur village of Pirganj Upazila of Rangpur (then part of Rajshahi). His father is Maqbul Hossain and his mother is Monowara Begum. He was the youngest of a family of six brothers and three sisters. He won a talent pool scholarship from the local Junuder Para Government Primary School in the fifth grade. Later, he passed SSC with a Golden GPA-5 from Khalashpir Bilateral High School. After completing SSC, he received a scholarship from the Babylon Group, called the Babylon Scholarship Program, to complete his college education. Then he passed HSC from

Rangpur Government College Rangpur Government College is an educational institution in Rangpur, Bangladesh. It was established on July 25, 1963. It is situated in ''Radaballav'', within one kilometer from the town center. History In the year 1963, when it is turned into ...

with a GPA-5. Later, he was admitted to the English department at

. He was a 12th batch student in English Department of Begum Rokeya University.

2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement

Abu Sayed was an activist of the quota reform movements of

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. After the new quota reform movement began on 6 June 2024, he became involved as the coordinator of the

Anti-discrimination Students Movement Anti-discrimination Students Movement ( bn, বৈষম্যবিরোধী ছাত্র আন্দোলন) is a student organization in Bangladesh formed by students during the 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement. The group led the ...

at Rangpur Begum Rokeya University. He published a Facebook post on 15 July 2024, referring to

Mohammad Shamsuzzoha Mohammad Shamsuzzoha (died 1969) was a writer , professor and proctor at Rajshahi University. Shamsuzzoha was the first university teacher in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) who was killed by the Pakistani Military forces at the eve of 19 ...

, a martyr in the

1969 East Pakistan mass uprising The 1969 mass uprising in East Pakistan ( bn, ঊনসত্তরের গণঅভ্যুত্থান, lit=69’s Mass uprising) was a democratic political movement in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The uprising consisted of a series of m ...

Death

On 16 July, between 2:30 and 3:00 pm, quota reform protesters and police clashed in front of Begum Rokeya University. Police fired tear gas and baton-charged to disperse protesting students. Most of the students left while Abu Sayed remained. The police were firing bullets from the opposite direction. Abu Sayed was subsequently shot four times by a police officer. He died before being taken to hospital.

Legacy

Graffiti Depicting Gen Z Revolution at Kazir Dewri Circle

The poet Shahidullah Faraji wrote a poem named after him called ' (), calling him the "hero of the generation". The name of Rangpur Park intersection was changed to ''Shaheed Abu Sayed Chatwar'' by the students in his honour. Following the exile of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the dissolution of her cabinet due to the protests, interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus remarked that Sayed was "in every person's heart in Bangladesh." Yunus later paid homage to Sayed at his grave in Rangpur on 10 August.

References

External links