"The police blocked us at Ramna intersection, beat us up, and then took us to the DB office. When we reached, I saw that my serial number was 28. We were taken to a floor with three rooms – one a common room where there were already people detained, a bathroom, and a torture room. After the first round of beatings, I entered the room and collapsed due to exhaustion."
Even though nearly a year has passed since that turmoil, there was still a note of panic in the voice of Tayyab Islam, who participated in the July Uprising, as he spoke these words over a phone call with Dhaka Stream.
Police had picked this Dhaka College student up on the morning of August 5 last year, when people from all over the country had embarked on the "March to Dhaka" to demand the resignation of then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The government had devised hardcore measures to suppress the programme organised by the Anti-Discrimination Movement. The army was aware that Hasina's fall was all but inevitable, but the police did not know that on that fateful morning. On the last day of a decade and a half of authoritarian rule, the hearts of the Bangladeshi people were filled with fear, indomitable courage, and a strong desire for freedom.
On August 4, Sheikh Hasina held a meeting with the chiefs of the four services as well as the police and the Special Branch. All preparations were aimed at foiling the scheduled programme the following day. None of those plans succeeded in halting the march of students and people like Tayyab.
Tayyab said he had left the Dhanmondi's Abahani Math area in the morning, accompanied by his friend Akash, a student of Dhaka University, and others. They had come to Tayyab's house the previous night, evading the police. Tayyab's voice wavered as he recalled the accounts of that day.
They wanted to go to the Central Shaheed Minar and were taking circuitous routes to avoid detection. They also hid their smartphones. On the way, they decided to split up. The plan was that even if one was caught, the others would be able to reach the programme. So, they left in two separate rickshaws.
Just before entering Shahbagh, police stopped the rickshaw carrying Tayyab and Akash.
"I have a relative admitted in Dhaka Medical College. We're going there, let us go" he told the police. As he was saying this, his phone rang. As soon as he answered, the voice of one of his other cohorts was heard saying, "Bhai, where are you all? We've reached the Shaheed Minar."
The police took the phone and heard everything. Then, the indiscriminate hitting and slapping began.
"That day, I did not lie to the police. My relative was actually admitted to Dhaka Medical College."
Tayyab and Akash were immediately loaded into the police vehicle. Upon reaching the DB office, they were taken to the common room, where they found existing occupants in an extremely anxious state.
"I was wondering, will they 'encounter' everyone at once or one by one?" Tayyab said, referring to the practice of authorities explaining away custodial or extrajudicial deaths as people being killed during armed encounters with police. The other detainees were kept there since the morning of August 5 or the day before, he said.
But no one knew what their fate would actually be. As they entered the DB office, Tayyab and the others were trying desperately to conceal "evidence" on their person. They had smartphones and national flags to tie to their foreheads. The phones contained pictures, videos, and various conversations. Since they had already assumed that they would die that day, they were desperately trying to keep the others safe.
They found a spot that was not visible to CCTV cameras, turned off their phones and hid them in a gap in the wall, where the plaster had fallen and some bricks were loose. And the flag had to be folded tightly and thrown through the bathroom drain.
'They're coming, they'll kill us now'
Among those detained in such a sordid state, Tayyab found one person who, following relentless beatings, appeared to have become delirious. He kept saying, "They're coming. They'll kill us."
There was also no way of finding out who he was.
Tayyab still can't forget that boy and the state he was in. "Every now and then, the boy was laughing and crying to himself."
Sighing, Tayyab kept saying, "I don't know how long the boy was kept there. I didn't know if he recovered."
"In that dimly lit room, it was hard to tell what time of day it was."
Hungry and having accepted his likely death, Tayyab allowed himself to indulge in some levity. "Where is [DB] Harun's hotel? I'm hungry."
Suddenly, a rumor started spreading: "Hasina has escaped."
At first, Tayyab and his companions could not believe it. By then, the number 1 detainee in the DB office was getting ready to be released. Tayyab approached him and gave him a phone number, saying, "If you are alive after you get out, then call me."
Every now and then, distant slogans could be heard. Tayyab and the others could not be sure which side of the divide the slogans were coming from – protesters like him or the Chhatra League. Tayyab tried to get a clue from the expressions of their detainers. Then he saw an office worker with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.
The detainees then realised that it was the sound of a victory march.
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