Fajal stood there totally at a loss, thinking whether he should flee, leaving his father in danger. One of the attackers snatched the stick that Anis had in his hand, raised it over his head, and brought it down with all his might. It created a hideous scene. Blood from the victim’s head spilled onto everyone’s clothing, making stains like a printed boutique. The gruesome sight of the hair, blood and brain tissues stuck to the stick’s head stunned Fajal. For a few seconds, he was like a statue, not knowing what to do. Having lost his speech, Anis kept beckoning to Fajal to leave the spot. Blood flowed from his eyes, nose and mouth. The moment they heard the noise of people arriving, the attackers left the spot. However, before leaving, they warned Fajal to pack up their belongings and leave the country.
The family members of the Mollah clan and the Neighbors found Fajal sitting on the ground with his father’s head on his lap. By that time Anis was already dead. The clan members and their neighbors searched the area to check whether the attackers had been waiting for an ambush, but they were nowhere to be seen. Subsequently, they brought the corpse to the residence of the deceased. Women and children of the victim’s family began wailing. With their tiny hands, children held their mothers in tight grip. Almost all Rohingyas living in Aung Syke gathered at the yard of the victim’s residence. The yard and the area around the victim’s home turned into a huge congregation. Everyone began saying if justice could not be ensured for this heinous crime, in near future they would not be able to live in that country anymore. One Rohingya youth who had been present there said that those who had influence and power wanted to see Arakan without her Rohingya population. Therefore, it was safe to assume that they would not get justice. In the middle of the yard, Rahim and his elder son stood next to the dead body. They were urging everyone to stay calm. Rahim told to keep the dead under the shade of the veranda. When it was moved, Rahim sat in a chair next to it, while the congregation before him waited for instructions or advices from Rahim as to what they should do.
Karim said to his father, “Everyone here has been waiting for something to lean against. Father, this is the best time for your positive statements.”
In a low voice, more or less like self-criticism, Rahim said, “In life nothing seems to be what I thought them to be. It was my belief that if I lived honestly, helped my neighbors and worked hard, I would get a positive result. But now I see that it was just a drama.”
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“Yes father, this is what I’ve been trying to tell you for the last couple of years. But I could not convince you. Now reality has done the work for me. A society which is driven by malice and hatred, logic doesn’t work in that society. Principles mean nothing in that society. Somewhere in this planet, if a person with a Muslim name commits a crime, we will be blamed for it because those who run the society are hell bent on expelling us from this country. Talk of secularism, terrorism, fundamentalism, progress all are just excuses. The fact is the wolf wants to eat the lamb. The talk of muddying the water is just a way to cover it up in any manner possible.”
Apparently, the victim’s relatives and neighbors felt the same way. After the Imam arrived, the dead body was washed and when it was being prepared for the funeral, the arrival of the security forces created another problem. Some people had informed the police of the incident, but the police arrived three hours after the incident. Immediately after arriving, they told them to bring out the corpse from the burial cloth. But the villagers objected to this. Nonetheless, the police were adamant, and when everyone realized they wouldn’t back down, they showed the police the wounds on the body of the deceased. The stick which was used to commit the crime was also presented as evidence. Afterwards, the police expressed that they would have to take the dead body for post mortem. Together the entire crowd raised its voice against this. The police were urging everyone to co-operate for the sake of investigation. According to the police, without a post mortem, the actual cause of death could not be determined. Among the crowd, a human rights activist augued that the wounds on the dead body and the stick clearly showed how it had happened. Subsequently, he asked why they needed to take the dead body for post mortem. He farther added that the police needed approval of the family of the dead for any kind of post mortem. After this statement, the police left the scene without the dead body. But before leaving, they said they would not submit any report to the authority. Hence, everyone at the scene realized that this was the actual motive of the police. They said, there was no need for a report of the security forces. After the burial, the family of the deceased arranged for a prayer session. The petrified Rohingya villagers raised their hands to the heaven, not so much for the deceased, as it was for their own security. During prayer session, the sun was already timid. After the prayer, they set out for their homes before sunset. It’s very difficult to express the silence that reigned in the home of the deceased after the relatives and neighbors had left. But still, the cycle of life went on.