Light gone out of his life suddenly

Shuvo Islam Bijoy

On the morning of April 24 last year, his father bought him some snacks and his mother gave him some money to buy his tiffin, before they said goodbye and left for work.
As fate would have it, it would be their final goodbye, but he did not know it then. Shuvo Islam Bijoy, now seven, went to school a happy boy, wishfully thinking his parents would not be late coming home that evening like they often were.
But they did not come at all -- both of them died in the Rana Plaza collapse on that fateful day. His parents, both garment workers at the building, are among the at least 1,135 people killed in the tragedy.     
The body of his mother, Selina Akter, arrived home two days later but the body of his father, Shahadat Hossain Selim, never did. He was probably buried in Jurain graveyard along with around 100 others who yet remain unidentified.   
Ironically, Bijoy had requested his mother not to go to the factory that day, as he had heard from his parents the previous evening that cracks had developed in the building.
"I asked her not to go, but she did not listen. She left for work after sending me to school," he told this correspondent.
Since the disaster, he has been living with his maternal grandmother, Razia Begum. One of his aunts supports him and his grandmother, a widow. It was Bijoy's parents who used to look after Razia until the deadliest industrial accident in the country happened.
Bijoy's parents could never in their wildest dreams have conceived of the future awaiting their child. But he is just one of the 837 children whose future has become uncertain following the tragedy last year.
Most of these children have lost both or one of their parents and are now dependent on their relatives. The majority of these relatives are very poor themselves, and so who will support these children and their education remains a big question.     
An ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) survey on 415 children of 278 dead workers shows about 300 of them are aged 10 or below.
If not all, most of them need support for living and education.
Also hanging in the balance is the future of the children whose parents have been badly injured and therefore can no longer work.
Some local and international NGOs, including ActionAid Bangladesh and Save the Children, have extended financial support and health and vocational training to some of these children.
The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has also started providing Tk 2,000 a month to 436 children of the dead and severely injured workers. So far, it has brought 239 children under the scheme in 20 districts.
The rest of the children will also be provided support, said Tariq ul Islam, secretary of the ministry, adding that this support would initially continue for one and a half years.
Asked about a possible extension, he said, "It is in our minds. But it depends on the availability of funds."
Bijoy, however, is not getting the support that he badly needs for his education, said Razia.
After the death of his parents, he had to stop going to the kindergarten in Savar as his aunt cannot afford the monthly fees of Tk 400. He was later admitted to a local madrasa for free before shifting to Sankalan Pathshala, which opened in the area after the Rana Plaza incident.
As for compensation, the government gave Tk 1 lakh for the death of his father, which his paternal grandmother took away. And for the death of his mother, the government, British retailer Primark and some individuals together gave about Tk 2 lakh, which remains intact.
But it is the love and care of his parents that Bijoy misses.
"My parents used to bring home their tiffin -- bananas, bread and cake -- for me. They would give me a surprise with those when I woke up in the morning. Often they bought me candies," he said.
The story of Mehedi Hasan, 10, is quite different. He had already lost his mother a couple of years before the collapse took his father away.  
His father Rezaul Karim had been a rickshaw puller before joining a garment factory in Rana Plaza on April 2 last year.
Rezaul's body was found two weeks after the collapse, but his elderly parents did not get any compensation as Rezaul had neither a national ID card nor an ID card from the factory.
"Most of the money we received after the death of my mother has already been spent on food, treatment of my grandfather and other purposes," said Jinat Hossain, 17-year-old son of Liva Begum, another victim.
She left three children, the youngest one being just seven.
They are now dependent on their grandmother, living in Bagerhat as their father married again after their mother's death.
Shubhomoy Haque, who works for ActionAid Bangladesh, said the BGMEA could set up a special school in the garment industry area to ensure education for the workers' children.
Mostak Hussain, humanitarian director of Save the Children Bangladesh, said it was important to take care of the kids who have lost their parents.
"It is also necessary to prevent them from going astray," he said, adding that the government could take some initiatives and the NGOs could play a supportive role.
Razia wants Bijoy to continue his studies, although she is not sure how long she will be able to support him.
These days she can be seen in demonstrations of different labour rights organisations, demanding compensation and other support for the Rana Plaza victims.
"I never got out of my village before the death of his [Bijoy's] parents. Now, I go anywhere when someone asks me, thinking it will help Bijoy. But no one gave me anything. They only take pictures," said a frustrated, despondent Razia.

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