Noman Sabit: Bangladeshi expatriates in Boston and Cambridge held a protest rally to demand justice for the murder of a Bangladeshi student by Cambridge police in the neighboring city of Boston, Massachusetts. At the protest rally held in front of Cambridge City Hall on Monday (January 9) noon local time, expatriates demanded exemplary punishment for the police who killed Bangladeshi-origin student Syed Arif Faisal. At the same time, they demanded the concerned city authorities to ensure the safety of the migrants.The protest rally was organized by Bangladesh Association of New England (BANE).
Bangladeshi origin student Syed Arif Faisal (20) was shot by the police at noon last Wednesday (January 4) in Cambridge and he lost consciousness on the spot. He died later that evening after being taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. However, the police have been claiming since the incident that after seeing a long knife in Faisal’s hand, they asked him to drop it. But he was running towards the police so the police were forced to shoot him.
When this incident spread among the expatriates in Boston and neighboring areas within moments, the expatriates erupted in protest. Hundreds of expatriates gathered in front of Cambridge City Hall on Monday (January 9) afternoon to demand exemplary punishment for the police involved in Faisal’s murder. Mainstream politicians including expatriate Bangladeshis and foreigners of various professions from neighboring areas including Boston and Cambridge participated in the rally. At this time, the Cambridge area became buzzing with the slogan ‘We Want Justice’.
Consoling the hundreds of Bangladeshis who came to the protest rally, the local mainstream politicians said, like you, we will also stand by this helpless family. You will help me to bring justice to the culprits. They also said that we will take all measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in Cambridge city.
Expatriate Bangladeshis in the assembly said that Faisal, a student of Bangladeshi origin, was completely innocent. Not only Bangladeshis, but various native immigrants have been shocked by such behavior of the police. The migrants of this city are suffering from extreme security. We cannot accept the killing of Bangladeshi Faisal by the police. Due to the tragic death of Faisal, the only son of his parents, his family has become helpless. We do not know the language to comfort them. Therefore, the expatriate speakers demanded exemplary punishment by immediately bringing the guilty policemen under the law.
Cambridge City Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and Councilman Burhan Azeem are said to be holding frequent Zoom and face-to-face discussions with Bangladeshi community leaders. They also assured cooperation in giving exemplary punishment to the guilty police officers.
While investigating the incident of Faisal’s murder, sensational information about their family was found. For a long time there was extreme turmoil in their family. There was a constant quarrel between parents. Faisal’s father Sayed Mujibullah was an alcoholic. The family turmoil reached such a level that Faisal’s mother, Mosammat Shaheda, was forced to divorce her husband a few years ago. Later she went to the country and got married again. Faisal continued to suffer from helplessness after seeing such activities of his parents. Besides, Faisal himself also loved a girl from Sylhet who lived in Boston. The relationship between them also deteriorates. These incidents make him mentally disturbed. From the fact that he had a knife in his hand on the day of the incident, many have speculated that he was unable to control himself and sought suicide.
The day after Faisal’s death, a non-political and non-profit organization in Boston refused to offer free burial to his father and relatives. They said Faisal’s family had been living in America for 25 years. We are all established. No one needs your help.
However, the controversial Bangladesh Association of New England (Bane) in Boston is collecting money from local and foreign people through ‘GoFundMe.com’ without the permission of Faisal’s family. 44 thousand dollars have been collected in the last 5 days by talking about helping the family of the victim. The common people of Boston are not looking at this matter well, because on July 17, 2020, when a Bangladeshi youth named Tanjim Siam was shot dead by a miscreant while working in a shop in Roxbury, a neighborhood of Boston, at that time, the Bangladesh Association of New England (Bane) and Humayun Morshed’s fundraising team separately collected hundreds of thousands of dollars that were not fully paid to the families concerned. Most of this money was shared by Bane committee people including former Bane president Asif Babu (now in jail). The same incident was done by Humayun Morshed’s fundraising team.
BP/SM
