Healing July’s wounds
One year after Bangladesh’s bloodiest student-led uprising in decades, the survivors of July 2024 - many maimed, jobless, and forgotten - are quietly struggling to rebuild their lives
Mehedi Hasan Mithun still hears the echo of bullets and screams. On 19 July 2024, he was shot in the waist while delivering food in Dhaka's Mirpur-10, amid a government-imposed internet blackout and a sweeping crackdown on protesters.
A year on, the bullet remains lodged in his body. Doctors in Bangladesh advised surgery abroad, but Mithun - classified as a Category-C patient on the official priority list-has had to wait. Unable to walk properly or return to his job as a delivery worker, he survives on modest aid and monthly support from a private organisation - Suhana & Anis Ahmed Foundation.
This is how, one year after Bangladesh's bloodiest student-led uprising in decades, the survivors of July 2024 — many maimed, jobless, and forgotten — are quietly struggling to rebuild their lives, aided not just by the state but by the silent efforts of the private sector.
"I've been told I need treatment abroad, but I'm not high on the priority list," Mithun said. "So, I just live with the pain." His days now revolve around recovery and survival. He leans on a monthly donation from the Suhana & Anis Ahmed Foundation, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative that also helped cover part of his medical expenses.
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The injury not only robbed Mithun of his physical strength but also his livelihood. As a delivery worker, walking and riding were essential to his job - now nearly impossible. The foundation is helping him look for alternative employment where he can work seated. "I haven't joined yet," he says, "but someone thinking about my future gives me strength."
What happened in July 2024 was unlike anything Bangladesh had seen in decades.
Thousands of students took to the streets demanding justice, dignity, and freedom of expression, fed up with 17 years of political repression. What started as a youth-led movement quickly turned into a nationwide wave of defiance, with people from all walks of life joining in.
The uprising lasted only a few weeks but left a deep scar: more than 1,400 dead, mostly young lives full of promise, and many more injured.
Some lost their eyes, while others lost limbs. Some were left paralysed. The dead were mourned and buried. But for the injured, the struggle continued – physical pain, unemployment, and emotional trauma became part of daily life.
The government rolled out treatment and rehabilitation for many of the victims. But public help alone wasn't enough. Many individuals, small organisations, and businesses also stepped forward.
The Suhana & Anis Ahmed Foundation was among the first to respond. Within days of the protests, 117 of their volunteers fanned out across hospitals nationwide – from Dhaka to Rajshahi to Sylhet – to track the injured and assess their needs.
Since August 2024, the foundation has supported 272 critically injured individuals with surgical costs, medical supplies, and cash assistance. For 100 people still unable to work, they have been providing monthly financial aid. And now, they are going one step further – offering real jobs.
"It is our moral obligation to stand by those who stood for justice and provided all of us with the taste of freedom again after 17 years," said Anis Ahmed, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the foundation. "Guided by this belief, the foundation continues to walk silently yet steadfastly alongside the injured on the path to a renewed future."
The foundation has partnered with courier and delivery companies to offer injured individuals flexible job placements, often tailored to their physical capabilities.
Nesar Uddin, a 33-year-old schoolteacher, was shot in the leg during the protests near Banasree Ideal School. Months of treatment at NITOR followed. Now, he is walking again – slowly – and has just received calls from the foundation offering a flexible job opportunity.
"I carried steel frames in my legs for over nine months. I can hardly work without support," Nesar said. "The foundation has offered me job opportunities. I intend to join once my walking improves a bit."
Nesar is also one of the recipients of the foundation's monthly stipend.
As Bangladesh moves forward, the wounds of July may not heal quickly. But for men like Mithun and Nesar, help from groups like the Suhana & Anis Ahmed Foundation turns tragedy into resilience – and fear into hope for a better future
