Quota reform movement: Clashes leave trail of pain, sufferings

Around 20 people have been receiving treatment for their wounds in ward no. 420 of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka. They all sustained bullet injuries in different parts of their bodies during the recent clashes centering the quota reform protests.

While visiting the hospital on Tuesday, a teen boy was seen with bandage in both legs as he suffered bullet wounds in both legs during the clashes.

His uncle disclosed their ordeals in detail, but requested to remain unnamed in fear of further complications.

His nephew – a ninth grader at a Dhaka school – was struck by two bullets at Mirpur-10 intersection when he was returning home amid the clashes over the quota reform protests on Friday, (19 July).

‘Those were not rubber bullets or pellets,’ the uncle emphasised.

Physicians said the boy is not in critical condition, but some of the others are under the risk of being crippled permanently.

Zakir Shikder, a 27-year-old salesman, is one such case. He is now admitted to the casualty ward-2  of the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR).

He was shot in the left leg in the capital’s Madhya Badda area on 18 July, and the physicians had no choice but to amputate the leg through a surgery.

While talking to Prothom Alo on Tuesday, Zakir lamented, “Body pain is nothing, brother. I have been crippled now! I have turned into a burden to my family.”

He claimed that he was returning home from his workplace when he was shot.

Zakir, the third one among five siblings, is from Madaripur and stays in a rented residence in the Madhya Badda area, along with his younger brother and mother. As his father passed away in 2007, he looks after the entire family.

Expressing concerns over the coming days, his mother, who was also present at the ward, said, “My son looked after everyone, now who will look after my son?”

Students and job seekers have been protesting throughout the last few weeks, demanding a rational reform in the quota system for the government recruitments. Their protests led to clashes on 15 July that turned deadly on the following days.

As of Thursday (25 July), a total of 204 people died either on clashing sites, or at hospitals during treatment. The deceased include babies, teens, students, youths, senior citizens, and law enforcement agency members. Besides, hundreds are receiving treatment for their wounds received during the clashes.

On Tuesday, some 35 people, including nine students and five teens, were found receiving treatment at the casualty ward-2 of the hospital, for the bullet wounds sustained in their bodies during the clashes.

This correspondent spoke to seven people who were struck by bullets. One – Muhibbullah, 38, an imam (one who leads Muslim worshippers in prayer) at Global Islami Bank’s Banani branch – suffered bullet injuries in his chest.

Another – Md. Sifat, 14, a class-eight student at Majedul Islam Model High School in Pallabi – was struck by a bullet in his right leg in the Mirpur-10 area on 18 July.

Sifat’s father, Md. Siraj, a private security guard, told Prothom Alo that he, along with his wife and two children, reside in the Pallabi area. On the fateful day, his son Sifat went to the Mirpur-10 area along with a friend and was shot in his leg on his way back home.

According to physicians of the ward, all the patients admitted to the ward have been shot during the clashes over the quota reform protests. They were taken to the hospital from different areas of the capital, including Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Uttara, Badda, and Narayanganj.

Apart from students, there are teachers, rickshaw pullers, day labourers, job holders, drivers, and people from other walks of life among the injured.

It was learned that a total of 1,269 people have received treatment at NITOR during the clashes from 17 to 21 July, with 231 suffering gunshot wounds.

Meanwhile, some 472 received medical care from the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital on 19 and 20 July. The hospital, however, does not have any records of patients with gunshot wounds.

This correspondent spoke to 10 people who are being treated in the hospital. Of them, five were hit by bullets, while the remaining five by pellets. There was a 17-year-old teen in the hospital. He – Md. Hasan, a salesman of a private company – was struck by a bullet in his wrist around 9:30 pm on Thursday, 18 July, when he was in the Katasur area in Mohammadpur.

Shafiur Rahman, director of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, said 12 people were brought in dead alongside the bullet-injured patients. He also said the situation was too bad in the last several days and they struggled to deal with the wave of patients.

However, many of the injured refused to speak to the media in public due to fear of further harassment.

A man, who runs a shop at Kazipara in Mirpur, said he was shot in his leg as soon as he came out on the premises of his residence on 19 July, though the clashing site was far away from his residence.

He assumed that the bullet was fired from a long distance. He is now receiving treatment in the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital.