'Jamaat leader got my son into militancy'
His father's occupation is somewhat linked to people's life and safety.
Abdul Qaiyum, father of Jubayer Hossain, one of the nine militants killed in gunfight with law enforcers early Tuesday, manufactures and sells bottled water in his locality in Noakhali's Maizdi.
Never in his wildest dreams did he think his son would become a militant one day, taking up arms at such a young age when he was supposed to concentrate on studies and think about his future.
“I could not save my son's life,” said Qaiyum, as he identified his son after seeing Jubayer's photograph in the media.
“It was beyond my imagination that he would become a militant,” he told this correspondent before leaving for Dhaka. Earlier in the morning, Qaiyum informed Shudharam Police Station of the matter and sought their help in taking his son's body.
The 20-year-old youth was a second-year student of political science at Noakhali Government College, but he was irregular in his class. On June 15, he went missing.
Jubayer was an activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir, a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, his father said.
“I failed to stop him from joining Shibir,” said Qaiyum, who worked as a driver of a local biscuit company.
Qaiyum blamed his nephew, Mohammad Ali alias Bahadur, a rukon (member) of local Jamaat, for instigating his son to become a militant.
Jubayer used to offer prayers regularly since his childhood. As he grew up, Bahadur started influencing him, claimed the father.
He said his son used to study at Al-Faruk Academy, an institution considered to be run by Jamaat.
“As I sensed that my son may turn towards the politics of Jamaat if he continues his studies at the institution, I changed his school and got him enrolled in class-VI at Noakhali Zila School,” Qaiyum said.
“But I couldn't save him,” he said, adding that his son and Bahadur went missing with Bahadur.
He filed a general diary with Shudharam Police Station on July 12.
AKM Jahirul Islam, additional superintendent of police in Noakhali, said police suspected Jubayer became a militant and were searching him.
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