Mohammad Shamim of Naduli Madhyapara village in Bogura works as a mason. The family of father, mother, younger brother, wife and two children lived on his income. There was a family of happiness even in the midst of poverty.
However, on August 4, he was returning home after work amid the anti-discrimination student movement. The student and the police got stuck on the road in the Satmatha area of Bogura. Mohammad Shamim was injured in police firing. The bullet hit him in the right eye, and he fell down. Some of the protestors rescued Shamim and sent him to the hospital. But there was no good treatment.
Later Shamim was referred to Dhaka National Institute of Ophthalmology for better treatment due to the bullet inside his eye. There, even after two consecutive surgeries, the bullet in the right eye could not be removed. The other eye was also affected by the bullet. Shamim's everything is getting darker day by day. He is the only working person in the joint family of five members; Shamim's entire family is in trouble.
Shamim said that on August 4 in Satmatha area of Bogura town, the police suddenly started firing at the students' procession, at which time around 30 bullets hit his body. One bullet hit the left eye just to the side but another bullet hit the right eye. It could not be removed even after two consecutive operations. The doctor said, there is a danger that the eye will be destroyed if the bullet is taken out.
With tears in his eyes, Shamim said, 'Doctor said you can see it, you cannot see it, trust in Allah. He was blinded by a bullet in his right eye, and saw a blur in his left eye. How will my family go now? Currently my source of income is closed from all sides. If I become blind at this age, how will my two kids be brought up? Who will look after them? I used to run with a single income. My father is old. I have given three sisters. Now I have no one to look after my family.'
His sister's son is being looked after in eye hospital for 25 days. He said, 'Our only request to the government is that it is not possible to get back the lost eyes; Can't even work and eat with blurred vision in one eye. If the eye can be fixed by treatment, and if not, the family should be helped to live; otherwise, the whole family will be in trouble with old parents and children.'
Meanwhile, doctors said that they are providing the highest level of service, if any problem is found, treatment is being arranged immediately.
About 40 people injured in the current anti-discrimination student movement at the National Institute of Ophthalmology are still undergoing treatment. Hospital authorities said that most of them were shot in one eye.