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Blasts that robbed him of livelihood

BISHAWJIT DAS
Sixty-six-year old Afaz Uddin not only lost his daughter, Rizia Begum, in the August 21 mayhem. He also lost the only means of his livelihood with her death.
"She was not only my daugh-
ter, she was also my son and only hope for living," the ailing Afaz, father of four daughters, told The Daily Star yesterday.
Rizia, 45, a member of ward No. 58 unit of Awami Mahila League, made her living as a support service vendor in front of
the Indian Embassy.
A widow, she used to make Tk 100 to 150 per day, working from dawn to dusk on the street.
Even before the August 21st bombing, Rizia's life had hints of tragedy. Afaz, who worked as a
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labourer in Bolgram village of Kaunia under Rangpur district, married Rizia, the eldest daughter, to a rich farmer of a nearby village. Rizia was then only 15. But the marriage later dissolved, and Rizia's husband threw her out of his house, keeping the two children Rizia had given birth to.
With nowhere to go, Rizia left Rangpur for the capital some 18 years ago, hoping to make money and support her parents. She made a living working as a domestic help, sending money that her parents lived on for years.
She eventually brought them to the capital to live with her in the Hazaribagh area, where she lived until she died in the grenade attack.
Her father, shedding tears, recently recounted how she helped them during that time. "I became blind, and my poor loving daughter gave me my sight back by treating me in the hospital," he said. Neighbours also helped her collect funds for the operation Afaz underwent.
Rizia's was a hard, grinding life until the end. She found a job working in front of the Indian embassy, said Amir Hossain, the brother of Rizia's landlord, Nilufar Rahman.
"She helped the visa seekers by providing them with glue to attach their photographs or by stapling the visa forms, and used to make Tk 2 to 10 from each of them," Hossain said.
Each dawn Rizia rushed to work and returned at dusk, covering the whole distance on foot, said Amir's father, Haris Miah. She also cooked all the meals, sharing it with her parents before going straight to bed.
Rizia's tragic end began with a visit to a local AL office. She rented a room from one Nilufar Rahman, thana secretary of AL Mohila League of Hazaribagh unit, who took her to the local AL office and made her
enroll with the party.
On August 21, Rizia stayed home all day and set off for the rally with Nilufar.
"After we reached in front of Osmani Uddyan with the other party fellows, Rizia said she felt like vomiting and we all had amra [a fruit] before heading for the rally," Nilufar told The Daily Star.
"I stood beside Ivy apa [Ivy Rahman] and lost Rizia when the grenades blasted," she continued, saying, "I lost my consciousness, receiving splinters in the legs, before regaining myself in the hospital."
Amir rushed to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital after hearing his sister and Rizia attended the rally. He later found Nilufar at Holy Family Red Crescent Hospital. But at DMCH, he found Rizia, her body smashed from splinters, in the corpse room of the DMCH.
Afaz, her father, is now struggling to make ends meet. He bought one bigha of land at Rangpur with the Tk one lakh in compensation money he received from AL. But the land has not been enough to sustain him.
"I used to cultivate the land and was making my bread out of it," Afaz said with a blank look, adding, "But the land went under water in rain last month, leaving me helpless."
His three sons-in-law - two working as farm labourers and one as a van driver - can't afford to support the elderly couple. As a result, Afaz was compelled to leave his wife Amena at Gaibandha at his in-laws house when he came to the capital Saturday.
"Who will look after me and my ailing wife?" Afaz uttered in a feeble voice, adding, "And who will take care of Rizia's two orphans, whose lives are being destroyed because of lack of guidance and care?"