Raisuddin "Rais" Bhuiyan (; born September 1973) is a Bangladeshi American working as a technology professional in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. A former officer in the

Bangladesh Air Force The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) () is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The air force is primarily responsible for air defence of Bangladesh's sovereign territory as well as providing air support to the Bangladesh Army a ...

, he was a student of Sylhet Cadet College who had gone to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to study computer technology. After the

September 11 terror attacks September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern hemisphere, the beg ...

, Bhuiyan was one of the three people shot by white supremacist Mark Anthony Stroman. Bhuiyan survived, but lost sight in one of his eyes. Bhuiyan gained media attention after revealing that he would appeal to the court to save Stroman from the death penalty. He told

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

, "I'm trying to do my best not to allow the loss of another human life. I'll knock on every door possible". He said, "In Islam it says that saving one human life is the same as saving the entire mankind. Since I forgave him, all those principles encouraged me to go even further, and stop his execution and save another human life". He started a movement named ''World Without Hate'' to prevent hate crimes through education and worked with

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

Victim of terrorism

Bhuiyan had moved to Texas from New York as it was cheaper and a friend had offered a partnership at a gas station. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, day laborer Mark Anthony Stroman went on a killing spree against people who he viewed as Muslim, with the apparent intention of seeking revenge for the 9/11 attacks. On September 15, 2001, Pakistani immigrant Waqar Hasan, 46, was shot and killed inside of a grocery store located at 10819 Elam Rd. in Dallas, Texas. Six days later, Stroman, armed with a shotgun, walked into a convenience store located at 521 S. Buckner Blvd. in Dallas. Bhuiyan, who was working behind the counter and believed Stroman was robbing him, began to collect money to hand over. As Stroman approached the counter, he asked, "Where are you from?" Before Bhuiyan could answer, Stroman shot him in the face. Bhuiyan ran to the barbershop next door, and a man in the shop called 911.

Aftermath

While the police were investigating the shooting, Indian immigrant Vasudev Patel was killed in Mesquite, Texas, on October 4, 2001. Stroman was soon captured and called TV stations from his jail cell to talk about how he was a patriot for killing the men. He sent a letter to a friend from prison in 2002, saying the attacks were revenge: "Here sits the Arab Slayer. For what he did, we should make him our mayor," he wrote. "Patriotic, yes indeed, a true American, a special breed." Bhuiyan was left with no money and had to go deeply in debt to restore his vision, "I had to go through several surgeries and finally the doctor could save the eye, but the vision is gone, and I'm still carrying more than 35 pellets on the right side of my face," he says. "Once I touch my face, my skull, I can feel it's all bumpy. It took several years to go through all these painful surgeries one after another one." Despite these hardships, Bhuiyan forgave Stroman and took up the cause of preventing his execution. Stroman would go on to repudiate his white supremacist beliefs. In an interview with the ''New York Times'', he wrote: "I have The Islamic Community Joining in y legal defence..Spearheaded by one Very Remarkable man Named Rais Bhuiyan, Who is a Survivor of My Hate. His deep Islamic Beliefs Have gave him the strength to Forgive the Un-forgiveable ... that is truly Inspiring to me, and should be an Example for us all. The Hate, has to stop, we are all in this world together." They reconciled before Stroman's death. Hours before Stroman's execution, Bhuiyan spoke with Stroman, over the phone, for the first time since the shooting. "I forgive you and I do not hate you," he said. Stroman responded, "Thank you from my heart! I love you, bro. ... You touched my heart. I would have never expected this." Bhuiyan replied: "You touched mine, too." Stroman was executed on July 20, 2011. Earlier that day, Bhuiyan's lawyers had lost a final appeal in federal court to stay Stroman's execution.

Victim of terrorism

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading