Sole breadwinner of family in hospital for days

Abdul Latif, 48, a shopkeeper from Lakshmipur district is passing hard time lying on a bed at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) as he was hacked indiscriminately by Bangladesh Chhatra League and Bangladesh Awami Jubo League men for joining a victory procession following downfall of the autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina.

Latif, the sole breadwinner of the family, is now worried about his future as the physicians are not certain about when he will recover fully and could lead a normal life.

Latif fell prey to the incident when he joined the procession at Bhuiyan Haat of Char Ramich union of Ramgati upazila in Lakshmipur district around 3.30-4.00 pm on 6 August after the fall of Sheikh Hasina.

The BCL and Jubo League men attacked people participating in the procession and Latif became a victim to it.

As he was moving with the procession, a group of BCL and Jubo League men carried out a brutal attack on him leaving him critically injured. Latif’s intestines almost came out due to hacking.

Hearing the news, Latif’s relatives reached the spot and tied up his wound with a piece of cloth so that his intestines could not come out.

Bloodied Latif was subsequently rushed to the nearby Sadar hospital but the physicians immediately referred him to DMCH.

He was admitted to DMCH at 11:00 pm on the same day, said Latif’s wife Bibi Asiya, adding: “My husband then underwent an operation which lasted from 12.30 am to 5.30 am (7 August).”

After keeping him in the post operative room for one day, he was shifted to a ward at the hospital, she added.

Mentioning her husband’s sufferings, Bibi Asiya with tearful eyes, said she does not know how they would survive as her husband was the sole earner.

Latif has a son and three daughters. His son is an 11th grader while the elder daughter is studying in class X. Of the other two daughters, one is a fourth grader and another is only three-year-old.

Latif is still unable to walk properly and there is uncertainty about when he will recover fully; the family is passing days in big hardship as they do not have any other source of income.

“Whatever money we have in hand have been borrowed from our relatives,” said Latif’s wife, adding: “Even our house in Lakshmipur, has been inundated by flood water.”

Latif’s wife, Asiya sought financial support from the wealthy people of the society to overcome the current financial hardship and lead a decent life.

The general students had been carrying out the movement seeking reform to quota in the public services.

The last Awami League government had engaged the leaders and activists of its student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, to contain the movement instead of solving the issue logically.

Additionally, the law enforcement agencies had taken a tougher stance to control the student movement with an iron hand.

In continuation of the protest, Abu Sayeed, an English department student of the Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur was killed in police firing on 16 July, which ignited the students and general people alongside the anti-discrimination movement.

A total of six people were killed in different parts of the country that day.

The movement in phases had turned into a one-point movement to dislodge the AL government.

Over 1,000 people were reportedly killed in gunshots by AL cadres and law enforcement agencies to stop the nationwide movement. Several police personnel had also been killed in the public wrath.

Several thousands of people with bullet wounds have been undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

Ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina had to flee the country in face of the movement of the students, pro-democratic political parties, masses of different classes and professions and commoners.

Afterwards, parliament was dissolved and a 17-member interim government led by Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhamad Yunus was sworn-in on 8 August.