The smiling schoolboy whose radiant grin captured the hearts of people across the country has met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Tahsin Abdullah, whose photograph with the Prime Minister at the closing ceremony of Notun Kuri Sports 2025-26 went viral on social media, paid a courtesy call on Tarique at his office on Wednesday, accompanied by his father Nazmul Haque.

The photograph, taken at Bangladesh Army Stadium in Dhaka on July 27, showed Tahsin, dressed in school uniform, stretching out both hands towards the Prime Minister with an expression of sheer joy.

The image quickly spread across social media, touching many people with the boy's spontaneous excitement.

Behind that infectious smile, however, lies a deeply painful story.

Tahsin lost his elder sister, Tasnia, in the tragic military aircraft crash at Milestone School and College in Uttara in July 2025.

The siblings studied at the same institution but were in separate buildings when the aircraft crashed into the building where Tasnia, an eighth-grade student, was attending classes. Tahsin was then in sixth grade.

Hearing the explosion, Tahsin rushed to look for his sister. At one point, he was asked to bring saline and water, which he carried in his small hands in the hope of helping her.

But that hope was never fulfilled.

The tragedy left a profound impact on the young boy. During a healing session, Tahsin wrote, “I am in so much pain. I have lost my beloved sister. She has died. I miss her very, very much. She was my best friend.”

According to his family, the carefree smile that once characterised Tahsin became increasingly rare after his sister's death.

That changed at the Notun Kuri Sports closing ceremony on July 27.

As the Prime Minister moved around the venue greeting participants, Tahsin became visibly excited when he approached him. His joyful expression was captured in a photograph that soon became widely shared online.

Later, Tarique learned about the boy's tragic family history and instructed his Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumman to contact Tahsin and his family.

Tahsin, now a seventh-grade student, met the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

He has a younger sister who is currently studying in nursery school.