Omar Faruk Babu Remembered

By Tibra Ali, May 25, 2019

Omar Faruk Babu Remembered (d. May 2013)

1. Tibra Ali for AlalODulal.org

The awful daring of a moment’s surrender
Which an age of prudence can never retract
By this, and this only, we have existed
Which is not to be found in our obituaries
— T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

Louis Ferdinand Celine one said that the good ones should have some kind of marking to set them apart from the rest of humanity. One of those good ones was Babu.

One of the first to run to the aid of those trapped in the wreckage of Rana Plaza, he saved many lives with his bravery. But soon afterwards Babu started to have nightmares of mangled dead bodies and other psychological problems.

Babu was being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital but then he went missing. His dead body was recently discovered there with marks around the neck. His family rejects the thesis that he may have taken his own life.

Why did we fail to take better care of Babu? Was it intentional or was he another victim of our systemic failure? I remember when I first saw his picture – that raw face on which you could see an anguished soul. A simple welder by profession, Babu confirmed for me that kindness and courage are instincts unencumbered by prudence.

His full name was Omar Faruk Babu. Lest we forget the name of one of the good ones.

(Originally published on Alal O Dulal on 2013/05/09.)

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