After Jummah prayers, freelance photojournalist Tahir Zaman Priyo was at the Science Lab intersection in Dhaka. Suddenly, a bullet fired by the police struck him in the head. Priyo collapsed to the ground—and never stood up again.
A native of Kamalkachna village in Rangpur, Priyo was the only child of his parents—Abu Hena Mostafa Jamal and Shamsi Ara Zaman. From a young age, he had a deep passion for photography.
That passion brought him to Dhaka, where he enrolled in Pathshala, the South Asian Media Institute. Over time, he emerged as a dream-driven photojournalist.
He worked with the multimedia news portal The Report. His life was simple—defined by his modest job, a small family, his mother, and his beloved daughter Padmapriya Parmita. Yet, Priyo nurtured a bold dream: to bring change to society through the language of images. That might be why he was fearless in the face of injustice.
On the day of the July 2024 protests, between 3:30 and 3:40 p.m., video footage shows a bullet fired by the police striking Priyo directly in the head. Due to the continued gunfire in the area, no one could approach him or take him to a hospital. His lifeless body was eventually retrieved from Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 10 p.m. that night.
Priyo’s grieving mother, Shamsi Ara Zaman, continues to say, "Priyo went to take photos, he committed no crime. My son was brutally murdered. I filed a case, I seek justice—but no one is listening!"
Even now, Priyo’s little daughter Padma searches for her father. When she sees police officers on the street, she says: “You killed my father. My beloved father no longer comes to me. My Priyo Baba will take me on an outing again.”
According to an international organization focused on journalist safety, 61 journalists have been killed in Bangladesh over the past 15 years. During the July 2024 movement alone, six journalists lost their lives—one of them was Tahir Zaman Priyo.
Priyo was an honest man—a brave pair of eyes—who died while documenting the harsh realities of society. But the dream he and others like him held—a Bangladesh built on truth and justice—when will that become a reality?
That question continues to haunt many.
