“I still feel like my leg is there, just like before. I forget that it’s been amputated, that it’s not there anymore. I can feel the entire leg just as I used to.” Fifteen-year-old Tamim Hossain shared these thoughts while sitting on his hospital bed.
Tamim had joined a celebratory rally in Mirpur following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government. During the rally, the police opened fire, and a bullet struck Tamim’s leg.
Like many others, Tamim was severely injured in the student-people uprising that took place in Bangladesh during July and August. Thousands were injured, with some losing their eyes or legs, and others surviving with bullets lodged in their bodies.
Their families have also been plunged into hardship. Some of the injured have been released from the hospital, while many remain admitted, still not fully recovered after a month.
“I try to scratch but realize my leg is gone”
Tamim, a student of a Hifz madrasa in Dhaka, had recently enrolled in the eighth grade at a secondary school. On August 5, in Mirpur, Tamim was shot. The bullet entered the back of his right leg and exited through the side.
“As soon as I was hit, I collapsed on the road. My entire right leg became numb. Blood was everywhere. I couldn’t walk properly. In that condition, I sought shelter under the flyover to escape the shooting. Half an hour later, when the firing stopped, people took me to the hospital,” Tamim recounted.
He was taken to a local hospital in Mirpur, but later transferred to a specialized orthopedic hospital and eventually to the heart disease institute for further treatment.
He said, “They did the dressing for a few days, but the wound began to rot. That’s when they transferred me to the heart institute, where they did tests and said the leg couldn’t be saved. It had to be amputated. After a final checkup at the orthopedic hospital, they confirmed the leg had to go.”
After his leg was amputated, new challenges arose. Tamim struggled to adjust to his new reality. Despite three weeks having passed since the operation, he still feels the “phantom limb” sensation.
He explained, “For the first three or four days, I couldn’t sleep. I felt like my entire leg was still intact. I still feel pain where the bullet hit, even though that part of my leg is no longer there. Sometimes, it itches. When I try to scratch, I realize my leg is gone. It feels like mosquitoes or ants are biting me, but there’s nothing there.”
Tamim is trying to adjust to his new life, although he is well aware that his life has changed forever.
“I’m learning to walk with crutches now. I used to play football. I remember those days. My friends will keep playing, but I won’t be able to. My mother talks to the doctors, hoping they can give me an artificial leg so I can play again,” he said.
Despite the circumstances, Tamim has not given up on his future. He dreams of becoming an engineer someday.
“When Abu Sayeed Bhai died, and so many others were injured, I couldn’t just sit still. My mother tried to stop me, but I didn’t listen. Now, when I think about it, I have no regrets. I went to the protests willingly, and I lost a limb for it. I just hope the country will be better for it,” the eighth grader added.
A Bullet Lodged in the Spine
Now, let’s turn to the story of Shakil from Gazipur. A pickup van driver by profession, Shakil was shot during the August student protests. The bullet lodged in his spinal column, leaving him teetering between life and death.
“We were part of the rally at Mouna Mor in Gazipur when the BGB suddenly opened fire. A bullet hit me in the lower back with such force that I fell to the ground. People ran over me as they fled. I bled profusely, and they couldn’t stop it,” Shakil recalled.
Shakil received initial treatment at a local hospital in Gazipur. An X-ray revealed that a bullet was stuck in his spine.
“When I saw the bullet, I panicked. The bullet was lodged in such a critical place in my spine that I thought I wouldn’t survive. I kept thinking about my child. If anything happened to me, my child would be orphaned,” Shakil shared.
Shakil later sought treatment at BSMMU and CMH. However, doctors at both places said the bullet couldn’t be removed.
“The bullet is lodged in such a way that removing it could kill me or paralyze my lower body. That’s what every hospital said. For now, I have to live with it. They said I would need to go abroad for treatment, but I don’t have the means for that,” Shakil said.
Shakil can barely walk with the bullet still in his body, and he has had to quit his job as a driver.
He added, “It’s not just my life that’s uncertain, but the future of my six-member family, including my parents. The bullet is still there. How long can I live with it? At some point, it will have to come out. It’s a piece of metal; it could rust or still have gunpowder on it. It could cause an infection, maybe not today, but someday.”
Shakil continued, “The money I earned driving used to support my younger brother’s education and my parents. Now I’m practically disabled. No job, no income. What will happen to my family? Will I even survive?”
Shakil hopes that others will come forward to help him receive advanced medical treatment.
Amjad’s Life Now in Darkness
Shakil continues to live with a bullet in his spine, but Amjad from Noakhali lives like a dead man. Shrapnel from a bullet hit his eyes, and he has lost his vision.
Suddenly, his once bright life is now engulfed in darkness. But how did it happen?
While sitting in his cabin at the orthopedic hospital, Amjad recounted his story. He too was shot on August 5 at Jatrabari in Dhaka.
“It was afternoon when they fired from a rooftop in Jatrabari. I was hit in the leg and fell to the ground. People fled, and two policemen approached me. I raised my hand in pain, begging them not to shoot. But from just ten feet away, they fired shrapnel bullets into my eyes and back,” Amjad said.
Moments after being hit in the eyes, Amjad’s vision blurred and eventually went completely dark.
“I couldn’t see anything. I touched my teeth and realized two had been broken by the bullet. Blood was pouring from my mouth,” he added.
Amjad was taken to the hospital, moving from Noakhali to Chittagong, and eventually to the Eye Institute in Dhaka. His treatment was covered by the government.
“They removed five bullets from my right eye and four from the left. One bullet is still lodged in my left eye, but I can’t see. I want to see my mother, but I can’t see anyone. I only recognize them by their voices. I can’t tell whether it’s day or night. It’s all darkness,” Amjad lamented.
Fragments of shrapnel remain lodged in various parts of Amjad’s body, but despite everything, he remains hopeful about the future.
“My condition is bad right now. My two older brothers have their own families to care for. How will I take care of my younger brother and mother? I don’t know what the future holds for me,” Amjad said.
Preliminary reports from the United Nations state that over 600 people were killed during the student-led uprising in Bangladesh in July and August. Thousands more were injured.
These families have undoubtedly been devastated. Yet, despite losing their sight, like Amjad, living with a bullet, like Shakil, or losing a leg, like Tamim, all three say, “We gave our blood for the future of our country, even if it puts our own futures at risk.”
