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Haunted by horrors

Victims recall memories


Published : 20 Aug 2020 09:46 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 07:47 PM

Sixteen years ago a heinous grenade attack was launched on an anti-terrorism rally of the then opposition Awami League at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka in a bid to annihilate AL’s leadership. The horrors of the attack still haunt those who barely escaped the grenade attack. Two victims of the August grenade attack talked to the Bangladesh Post on Thursday, recalling their horrific moments of the blasts as well its aftershocks.

Shohela Parvin Ranu, who survived the deadly attack, burst into tears while recalling the horrified 16-year old memories.

“I came to the capital from Munshiganj and joined the anti-terrorism rally at the Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21 in 2004,” said Ranu, now organizing secretary of Awami Mohila League.

Recalling the moments before of the deadly blasts, Ranu, who was seriously injured, said, “Immediately after the end of the speech of our party chief Sheikh Hasina, then Dhaka City Awami League General Secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya got down from the stage. He asked us to clear the way so that Sheikh Hasina can easily board her car.”

Awami League presidium member Matiya Chowdhury also got down from the stage before Sheikh Hasina and I was following her, Ranu recalled.

Ranu said she met Ada Chacha after walking a few steps and I took some gingers from him as her voice was damaged due to chanting slogans repeatedly.

“While chewing ginger, I heard a bang. People were trying to save themselves hearing the repeated bangs. I can’t recall anything more. On the next day, I woke up and found myself lying on the floor of the National Institute of Traumatology & Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR),” she recalled.

Many injured were also there. But doctors were reluctant to treat them. None of the injured were kept on the bed until the hospital authorities learnt that the opposition chief was going to visit the hospital, Ranu recalled.

The female AL leader still bears the brunt of the shock since her two legs were injured by grenade splinters in addition to losing her hearing.

“Still splinters are inside my body. I was shifted to the Bangladesh Medical College. Later I went to India for further treatment. But nothing could restore my hearing capacity,” Ranu said before bursting into tears.

“I can’t hear properly, can’t even talk over cell phone without using loud speaker. I can’t walk or stand more than five minutes at a stretch,” she described how she has been leading her life since the attack.

Another victim Nasima Ferdushe, then president of Dhaka City Mohila Awami League, was also severely injured in the heinous grenade attack.

Recalling the horrors of the attack in an emotional tone, Nasima said, he stood near the Mohila Awami League president Ivy Rahman and they all were very near to the truck, which was used as dais of the rally. 

“Our party president was about to leave the stage. But photo journalist SM Gorky stopped her saying that he could not take her picture. Suddenly I hear a bang. A moment later, I Ivy Rahman lying on the ground and I, too, felt something struck my right leg.

“Flesh of my legs were scattered on the ground.  Despite this, I tried to pull out Ivy Apa and gather the flesh. But I couldn’t stand anymore. I saw dead bodies and injured people all over the area,” recalled Nasima.

“At one stage, I lost consciousness. Later, I found myself on a truck carrying bodies. I was brought to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital where I was left on the hospital corridor. No doctors came to treat me.”

Nasima said, at the request of Dr AFM Ruhal Haque, a doctor came and decided to amputate my right leg along with that of Ivy Apa’s.

“Meantime, my family arrived in the hospital and they did not allow to remove my leg. I was then shifted to a private hospital in the city.” 

Later, AL president Sheikh Hasina sent Nasima to the Delhi Apollo Hospital for better treatment. “I was also sent to Thailand and Germany for surgery. I had to undergo as many as 24 surgeries on my right leg,” she said.

Nasima is still bearing more than 1,500 splinters in her body. Now, she can walk without a crutch but she needs someone to hold. “Because I can’t cross even a slight high place without help,” she said.

She, however, demanded immediate execution of the grenade attack case verdict.

“I believe if Sheikh Hasina lives a long life we shall see the executions of the grenade attackers and its masterminds,” Nasima hoped.