He missed the last meal made by mother as mortar shell from Myanmar took her life
Hosne Ara was a woman whose whole life revolved around her family
Ibrahim, a resident of Bandarban's Ghumdhum area, sat clutching a clump of greying hair in his hand.
It was the last tangible memory of his mother that he had left.
His mother, Hosne Ara, 55, died soon after a mortar shell from Myanmar exploded, interrupting her cooking.
"The mashed chilli she made that day is still here. Everything remains as it was. Only my mother is not here anymore," he said while pointing at a steel glass.
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"Mother knew that I don't like fish or meat. But I loved eggs. She used to prepare eggs for me before every meal," he said.
"After the Zuhr prayer, I came home and saw her working in the kitchen. She had fried eggs for me and mashed chilli for my father. I told my mother to pray as well. and she teased me, saying, 'My son has become a Maulvi now.' She was so happy about me reminding her to perform prayers that she kissed my forehead right before I left.
"As soon as I stepped on the road, I heard an explosion. I rushed back inside my house only to see my mother lying on the floor covered in blood," Ibrahim said, bursting into tears.
"I lost my mother just like that. She asked me to have lunch before I left, and I told her I would eat when I returned," Ibrahim said.
The mortar shell that hit Hosne Ara also killed a 65-year-old Rohingya worker, Nabi Hossain, who had been working in the house for six years.
Nabi, who treated Hosne Ara like his daughter, worked there because he couldn't eat the food from the Rohingya camps. He was free to eat whatever was cooked in the house.
Hosne Ara was a mother whose whole life revolved around her family.
"Mother was a hardworking woman. She kept a goat, two cows, and over fifty chickens. She cultivated chili and paddy on two and a half acres of land," said her elder son Shafiul Alam (31) who drives an autorickshaw.
"She loved to rear pigeons and had eleven of them. She had plans to rebuild the house after the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr," he added.
Hosne Ara was buried yesterday.
Ibrahim said he bought a saree for her mother last Thursday. She was very happy and was excited about wearing it while visiting a relative's house.
His only regret right now is that her mother could not drape that new saree.
Since the last couple of days, a clash between the Myanmar law enforcement agencies and the rebels continued with heavy firing, mortar shelling, and explosions, creating panic among the Bangladesh residents and Rohingyas living near the border.
As of last night, as many as 180 families have left Ghumdhum union for safer places amid heavy shelling from Myanmar near the Bangladesh border.
As many as 240 more families are at risk, according to Bandarban Deputy Commissioner Shah Mujahid Uddin.
So far, 327 Myanmar residents, including 222 members of the Border Guard Police, two army officials, four CID members, five police personnel, nine special branch officers, 20 immigration officers, and two civilians, have fled to Bangladesh in the last few days.
[Jobaer Chowdhury is reporting from Bandarban's Ghumdhum union]
