15 Years Later We Met in Jackson Heights

The streets were busy as always. People from different countries and cultures moved through the familiar bustle of one of New York’s most vibrant neighborhoods. I am currently in the United States to cover the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. Amid that busy schedule I unexpectedly came across a familiar face on the streets of Jackson Heights.

It was Khondoker Rezaul Kawnain a person who has been close to me for many years.

The moment I saw him memories from nearly 15 years ago came rushing back.

Khondoker Rezaul Kawnain is the Founder and Principal of Smart Computer Science and Technology. For nearly 15 years I had been professionally associated with his institution particularly in matters related to student admissions media communication and publicity. Over time that professional relationship developed into a close personal bond.

I have always known him as someone deeply committed to technical education. He worked to make vocational and technical education accessible to students at a comparatively low cost. At one point he even authored 17 books for polytechnic students hoping to make educational resources more accessible to young people pursuing technical education.

But sometimes a person’s dreams collide with realities far beyond his control.

During his years in Farmgate Dhaka Khondoker Rezaul Kawnain says he faced repeated pressure extortion harassment and at times physical and mental suffering allegedly at the hands of politically connected individuals. Yet despite everything I never saw him become consumed by revenge.

He never seemed interested in competing with anyone over retaliation. Instead he continued to focus on his institution his students and his work.

He also maintained his political identity rather than changing sides for personal advantage. As he has described it to me his affiliation with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party became another source of difficulty in his life.

Later he established a second campus at his own home in Uttarkhan Dhaka. According to his account the campus came under attack and there were attempts by individuals affiliated with the then ruling political camp to take control of the property.

Eventually the circumstances became so difficult that he began to fear for his own safety and that of his family.

According to Khondoker Rezaul Kawnain amid threats of abduction and murder he ultimately left Bangladesh for the United States on July 22 2016.

Leaving one’s homeland is easy to describe in a single sentence. The reality behind that decision can be infinitely more painful.

Yesterday standing on a busy street in Jackson Heights we spent considerable time talking about those old days.

So much has changed since then.

He is now thousands of miles away from Bangladesh. Life has taken both of us in different directions. Yet some memories remain remarkably unchanged.

Then he shared something that left me deeply saddened.

He told me that both his father and mother passed away this year.

For any son or daughter losing both parents is an unimaginable loss. For someone living thousands of miles away the pain of not being able to be there for their final farewell can be even more profound.

But there is another layer to his grief.

According to Khondoker Rezaul Kawnain some of the people who had allegedly harassed and threatened him in the past have once again started discreetly seeking information about his whereabouts. He believes they fear that he may return to Bangladesh to attend his parents’ final rites. He also claims that some of his relatives have once again received threats.

As a result despite the passage of nearly a decade he remains reluctant to return to his homeland.

I found myself wondering how painful it must be for someone to hesitate even before returning home to say a final goodbye to his own parents.

Khondoker Rezaul Kawnain’s story is not simply the story of a man living abroad.

It is also the story of a person who once tried to build something in his own country a technical education institution a future for students and a career dedicated to education. He wrote books for young people worked to make technical education affordable and by his own account endured considerable pressure along the way.

Yet eventually he left.

Today America is where he lives. Bangladesh survives in his memories.

His story also reflects a painful contradiction faced by people whose professional and personal lives become entangled with the uncertainties of politics.

Of course I do not claim to independently verify every allegation he shared with me nor do I know every chapter of his life. But after knowing him professionally and personally for nearly 15 years I know the person I met again yesterday a man who despite difficult circumstances continued to hold on to his work his principles and his dreams.

Our meeting in Jackson Heights was accidental.

But as we said goodbye it felt like more than an unexpected encounter between two old acquaintances. For me it felt like meeting a small piece of Bangladesh again thousands of miles away from home.

Perhaps one day Bangladesh will become a place where political identity does not determine a person’s safety profession or future where no son or daughter has to calculate the risks before returning home to bid farewell to a parent.

Perhaps on that day people like Khondoker Rezaul Kawnain will be able to return home without fear.

Until then somewhere in Jackson Heights a man continues to carry his homeland in his memories.

As we parted yesterday I could only say

Rezaul Bhai stay well. Stay safe.

May your dreams survive the distance and may some of them someday find their way back home.