"I used to be beautiful," said Parvin, a 27-year-old brickbreaker, who came to the Dhaka headquarters of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) one evening last week to share her story. She was wearing dark glasses, even though it was night, because she had just undergone a surgery on her left eye, which had been wounded by bullets.

One day, during her usual walk to work, she found herself surrounded by chaos, Minutes later, a police officer opened fire on her, riddling the left side of her body with bullets, several of which hit her left eye. She was rushed to the hospital by some students, and while she was able to receive urgent care, she lost the ability to see through her left eye.

Like thousands of others who took part in the July movement, Parvin has paid a heavy price. Along with her sight, she has lost months of income, having to relocate out of Dhaka with no way to support her family, pay for her treatment, or cook daily meals. Parvin's brother has had to go to work, missing out on his own education. And it has taken a personal toll. "It's hard to believe the country has been liberated; it doesn't feel that way. I can't sleep. I can't forget what I saw," she told us.

Unlike many others, however, Parvin has started to see the light at the end of the tunnel with a successful corneal transplant, which has begun to restore vision in her eye.
Parvin is one of the 12 victims whom BLAST interviewed for a submission to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' Fact-Finding Mission on Bangladesh, which published its report earlier in February.

That report has established, on a reasonable grounds basis, the previous government's culpability for killing "as many as 1,400 people" and injuring "thousands more," as well as obstructing medical aid to those injured. It is a crucial confirmation of the narrative of the July uprising and its lasting effects: the report noted that "many victims and their families are in precarious positions as a result" of their injuries. Moreover, although the interim government has announced that the victims will receive free treatment, "the implementation of this decision has reportedly encountered problems."

We believed it was important that the UN report highlighted the plight of those injured in the movement, so, in October, we decided to make our own submission to the fact-finding mission, focused on the injured people—what they have suffered and how their needs are still not being met.

Consequently, BLAST collaborated with a volunteer lawyers' group to document the plight of injured people and provide medical and legal referrals. Many were still waiting for urgent treatment, which we tried to facilitate while documenting the circumstances in which they were attacked.

The team settled on 12 individuals to interview, initially prioritising those with severe eye injuries requiring urgent attention, including three minors. Five of them were bystanders, while seven were protesters, including students, private sector employees, and informal sector workers. It was a drop in the ocean of the number of injured people, but allowed us to produce case studies illustrating the victims' ongoing needs.

BLAST's findings painted a bleak picture: A 15-year-old girl was coming back from school on July 17 when she was shot. She now has 60 bullets lodged in her body and is blind in one eye. On July 19, a 13-year-old boy was returning from Friday prayers when he was shot above his right knee. He is an underage garment worker and has spent his own money on treatment, but it is unlikely he will fully recover.

All the survivors interviewed sustained severe injuries; in most cases, they had eye trauma from rubber pellet wounds, which scatter on impact—a highly specialised and time-sensitive issue to address. The injuries included fractured nasal bones, retinal damage, and multiple gunshot wounds to the face and body. One victim is already completely blind, and another is at risk of losing his sight soon.

In some cases, after being shot by law enforcement, victims were unable to access treatment, which increased the severity of their injuries. Some were denied treatment by hospitals under instructions to turn away protesters. Others found the available treatment inadequate and had to find other options themselves. Two were arrested after being injured.

One case, in particular, shows the combination of chaos and cruelty that reigned during the protests. After being shot in the face in Merul Badda, this survivor found a local hospital ill-equipped to treat him, so he travelled several hours by rickshaw to a larger hospital, where he faced denial of treatment, inadequate treatment, and police harassment. He has lost vision in both eyes.

All the victims that BLAST interviewed have faced considerable financial difficulties as a result of their injuries. Some, who used to work to support their families, are now physically disabled and financially devastated.

As the team listened to their stories, we referred them to government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for practical support, including urgent medical treatment or much-needed financial aid. A variety of government and non-governmental organisations, volunteer groups, and private individuals have stepped up: they have helped with financial aid or securing second medical opinions and, in one case, a cornea. We were also able to provide victims with a free hotline number, through an NGO, for mental health support, although more is needed to alleviate their severe trauma.

And, from the government side, the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation (JSSF) has undertaken the initiative to provide up to Tk 1 lakh to each injured person (and Tk 5 lakh to the families of those killed). BLAST also engaged with the JSSF to help the money reach the victims without delay. However, despite the good intentions of the government and the JSSF, there is a glaring lack of coordination. Moreover, in most cases, Tk 1 lakh is far from enough, as the victims have lost their livelihoods.

However, accessing medical treatment is far from straightforward for many injured individuals. Despite the government's assurance of free treatment for injured protesters, some have had to pay for their treatment or medication, as these are often not available for free outside Dhaka. In other cases, the victims simply did not know how to access free treatment.
BLAST coordinated these medical referrals for that initial group of 12, but it was clear that many more were in the same position. These needs, far from being resolved, are becoming more pressing as time passes. Consequently, we have since expanded our project to a much larger group of victims.

Cyrus Naji is researcher, Advocate Priya Ahsan Chowdhury is consultant, and Zaineen Kareem is intern at Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST).

Views expressed in this article are the author's own. 

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