The students and common people who got injured during the mass uprising in July-August are still in sufferings as many of them have been passing hard times staying in the beds of hospitals. They’re taking treatments in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), Eye Science Institute and different hospitals. These injured and their relatives, demand for rehabilitation and better treatment from the government, especially for those who lost their limbs.
Some of the injured-victims on Wednesday showed protest on the road blocking the car of Health adviser. On that day British High Commissioner Sarah Cook and health adviser Nurjahan Begum visited the NITOR to see the condition the injured patients. The injured students started protesting because she did not visit the injured going under treatment in the third floor ward. At one point, they started protesting by blocking the road in front of the hospital. Later at 2.30 am, after talking to Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akter, Local Government Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, Adviser Mahfuz Alam and Assistant (Health) in the rank of State Minister Md. Sayedur Rahman, the injured ones returned to the hospital.
According to the sources of NITOR, there are currently 84 people under treatment in the hospital. So far, more than 800 injured patients have received treatment from the hospital. Among them, 21 people have had their hands and feet amputated, of which 17 have had their legs and four have had their hands amputated. Furthermore, six injured people died in the hospital. The situation is similar in other hospitals of the capital. The injured student Hasan is going through treatment in the hospital. Hasan said, “We have been kept here for three months with insignificant treatment. I have had nine operations on my leg, but have not yet recovered. They just takes us to the operation theatre. We want them all to talk to us. I demand Tk 1 lakh announced to be provided to us along with quality medical care.”
Al Miraj, a student of IUBT University, was injured in Kakrail of the capital during the anti-discrimination student movement. He was shot in both eyes. He said that on the afternoon of July 19, he was shot in the eyes while protesting in Kakrail. Since then, he is under treatment in bed number 43 of room number 422 of National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital.
“I have torn retina in right eye, limited vision in left eye. The doctors said that there is no treatment for the right eye in the country. So we took to the streets to demand better treatment,” he said.
On August 5, Mizanur Rahman was injured while rescuing a bullet-hit man in Savar's Ashulia. The bullet fired by the police hit his right eye. He said, “My eyeballs have been removed by surgery. But I can't see anything in my right eye. Retina is damaged. The condition of the cornea is also not good. We demand better treatment from the government.”
In addition, demanding rehabilitation, he further said, “I have lost one eye. Many have lost their two eyes participating in the movement. No one came to the movement for their own interests. People who have lost eye sight cannot do normal work. Will they live their whole lives at the mercy of others? We demand from the government that those who have lost their eye sight should be rehabilitated so that they can live the rest of their lives.”
(Translated by Lutful Hoque)
