An autocrat blinded by power, a people blinded by bullets
TBS visited the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital on 14 August and met scores of victims with gunshot injuries to the eye. All were shot by the police during 4-5 August. Here are some of their accounts
On 5 August, Md Faruq was home on a three-day work leave. He lives right behind the Brac University campus in Merul Badda with roommates.
At one point, "my roommates called on me to go out and do something for the students," recalled the 33-year-old, sitting on a wheelchair at the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital's first floor last Wednesday (14 August).
He was wearing sunglasses — the thick black ones that blind people usually wear. When his brother Shahadat pointed at him to draw our attention, Faruq straightened up and his limbs seemed to have gained life.
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Faruq remembers getting hit by multiple "splinters" or birdshot pellets — shotgun shells containing small-sized metal pellets. His shaved head bears clear marks, as does his face. Shahadat said his brother saw three people get shot and fall to the ground. The police were shooting from close range.
When Faruq went to help the injured, he was shot too. "And then I fell instantly. I cannot remember what happened next," said Faruq, who works at a social club in the capital.
His voice was feeble but with a strange kind of grit, determined to enunciate.
The people who would take Faruq to the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital in Agargaon after he fell were in "hundreds, nay, thousands, as far as I can remember," he said, "I told them [protestors] not to go to the police station. It was the Badda police who shot at us."
On 5 August, there were multiple cases of police stations being attacked and torched by the general public as a sign of revolt against police brutality. The Quota Reform Movement that started on 16 July cost hundreds of lives.
That movement evolved into a national rally against the Hasina-led Awami League's 16-year-old regime.
"As soon as I heard [around 7pm on 5 August], I left for the hospital with my motorcycle," recounted Shahadat, a shari shop owner in the capital. "Faruq has a wife and a child," he said.
Faruq's eyes were operated on twice, one eye on 6 August and the other the following day. Eventually released, Faruq returned to the hospital on 14 August. "We were told to get him admitted. The doctors said 'overseas' treatment is a good option; his right eye is completely damaged and they have to wait and see if the left eye can be salvaged," said Shahadat.
The splinters inside his head remain. Faruq's headaches are constant.
"What happened in Bangladesh is worse than what the Pakistani Army did in 1971," said Delwar (not his real name), an attendant who came with his mother suffering from natural causes.
Enraged, he continued, "How can you order to shoot at your own people?" he asked. "They have no heart!"
From 17 July to 14 August, around 706 patients were brought to the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital. Of them, 551 patients were admitted and 492 were operated on, according to its Director Professor Dr Golam Mostafa.
On 4 August in Barishal, 20-year-old Md Tariqul Islam was with students outside when he was shot. He was marching with about 10-12 friends. "They were not seriously injured. No one had to be hospitalised," he informed.
Asked if his friends joined the 'Bijoy' Long March on 5 August, Tariqul chuckled, "I can't tell you that, I was here [Agargaon's eye hospital] then."
"There were dead bodies and injured students everywhere. There was no vehicle available at that time to take them to hospital. I rushed to my house and brought my auto out to take them to hospital. I was making trips to the hospital back and forth. At one point, during my commute, the police started firing from the third floor of the Thakurgaon court building."
When the country erupted in jubilation at the heels of Hasina's ousting, Tariqul's right eye was being operated on at around 12pm.
The HSC examinee joined the protests for the second time on 4 August, his first being during curfew breaks in late July. "We started at around 11am at Barishal's Nathullabad, and from there, we went to Hatem Ali, Choumatha.
"That is where I was shot."
Police did not start shooting when they saw the protest growing larger. "They were shooting from the get-go. Non-stop. They [about 20-25 policemen] threw tear shells, sound grenades."
Tariqul said he went forward to help those who were injured and bring them back to safety. That is when he was hit. He pointed to his chest, head and said two more struck his eye.
When Tariqul fell, others picked him up and led him back to safety. "First at Hatem Ali, two medical teams provided me with dressing as much as they could. Then I was sent to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College's emergency ward."
There, the doctors said that he should be taken to Dhaka since everything was closed in Barishal.
That night, they started in an ambulance and reached the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital around midnight. His voice was clear, his eyes likely beamed too through the thick black glasses.
Tariqul cannot see in his right eye, which was struck with two pellets. "I can't see much. It is blurry. I can barely see light, barely any movement like hand gestures."
His lens was fractured and there is "some trouble" with his cornea.
We were standing on a balcony on the first floor, ambulances sounding their sirens would drive past from time to time. Tania, with a voice on the verge of cracking but determined to stay firm, recounted seeing her son.
"Neither could I cry or scream, nor could I beat him. I could not do anything. Because I could not keep my son off the streets," she said.
"I have accepted what has happened. When I saw 'bijoy' [victory], I felt sad and happy at the same time. Happy because if it wasn't for them [students], the country's war could not have moved forward."
On 14 August, they were told to get admitted for two weeks at the hospital. Tariqul, who was released earlier, needs his cornea to heal before the doctors can say if and when the pellets can be extracted. "I do not know if in the end he will be able to see again [with his right eye]."
It is a waiting game.
Md Alauddin in Kushtia fell prey to police shootings on 5 August.
"I was waiting for him to get back so that I could go see the Long March," said his wife Joty.
People crowded the Khoksa Police Station in Kushtia and eventually, it was torched, recalled 38-year-old Alauddin, who said he went to see the commotion and was merely standing there when the police started firing.
Alauddin was hit multiple times by birdshot pellets. "We have the X-ray," the wife said. "Four are in his head. Two under his eyebrows, one on his face, and another in his eye."
The doctors, both at the eye hospital and Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), told Alauddin that the pellets pose no threat to him. He is one of the lucky ones, who would soon return to his lungi business in Kushtia.
Professor Dr Siddiqur Rahman, managing director of Vision Eye Hospital, says that the decision to remove or leave a bullet or pellet inside the body depends on various factors, including the bullet's size, location and the potential impact on nearby organs.
Each case is unique, requiring careful consideration, he said, adding "Humans can live with a bullet inside. Many survivors of World War II are still alive with bullets inside their bodies."
Although Dr Siddiqur has not dealt with any patients with gunshot wounds during the student movement, he has past experience of handling similar cases. "It is understandable why doctors are not operating immediately. The eyes are a very sensitive organ with soft tissue. The damaged tissues should be healed first before operating," he explained.
He also mentioned that if the bullet is stuck in a suitable position, let's say in the gap of the eye socket, it can stay that way as long as it is not making an impact on nearby tissues.
Mohammad Raju Islam, an autorickshaw driver from Thakurgaon, still has the pellets inside his body. The doctors only stitched his cornea and told him to rest and heal. He completely lost sight on his left eye after coming under fire on 4 August.
He says that the pellets inside his body hurt badly. He gets headaches all the time.
On 7 August, he was brought to the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital after being refused by several local hospitals in Thakurgaon, Dinajpur and Rangpur. "There are two rear mirrors in the autorickshaws. Now that I have only one functioning eye, how can I go back to my normal life and drive my auto?"
Raju joined the student movement on 18 July, he said.
On 4 August, around 2pm, the situation escalated and around 4,000-5,000 students started a rally and police started firing indiscriminately at the students in Thakurgaon Sadar.
"There were dead bodies and injured students everywhere. There was no vehicle available at that time to take them to hospital. I rushed to my house and brought my auto out to take them to hospital. I was making trips to the hospital back and forth.
"At one point, during my commute, the police started firing from the third floor of the Thakurgaon court building. All of us got injured instantly," he said.
Raju also said around Tk30,000, so far, had already been spent for his treatment. After requesting aid from hospital authorities, he is now getting the medicine for free.
According to media reports that have surfaced since 5 August, it was made clear that the police deliberately targeted and shot at the protestors' head, chest, legs and even the eye.
Shots to the eyes or pellet wounds draw parallels to how the Central Reserve Police Force, an Indian paramilitary unit, cracked down on protesters in Kashmir in 2016.
Prof Dr Golam Mostafa said most of the 706 patients brought to his hospital had gunshot wounds and some of them were injured by rubber bullets. He mentioned no history of live bullet patients.
The hospital director said they provided 24/7 care, with 11 operating theatres running continuously to handle the unprecedented influx of patients.
But many dreams remain shattered.
"My dream was to grow up and join the Bangladesh Army. I lost my eyesight and the opportunity to join the military. I worry If I will be able to take the SSC test examination that was scheduled for next month," said 16-year-old Riyad, a student from Bogura's Uttoron High School.
Riyad joined the protest on 4 August at Shatmatha Sherpur Road in Bogura district, standing at the forefront of the rally. During the demonstration, he was shot at close range by the police.
"He had several pellets inside. The ones that were inside his body were removed by the doctor at our local hospital. We took him home and put iodine on the wounds ourselves. But the local doctor could not do anything about the eye and told us to go to Dhaka," said his mother.
He was brought to Dhaka on 5 August. The doctors stitched his cornea and released him immediately. Until 14 August, no X-ray was done and the family does not know anything about the pellet inside.
Riyad was asked to come in for a follow-up visit and then told to get admitted on 14 August for further treatment.
"Even though the hospital expenses have been made free, we are still struggling to bear the costs. It cost us Tk20,000 for the ambulance on 4 August," his mother added.
