July uprising injured block Agargaon roads for 2nd day demanding medical care, state recognition
The demonstrators occupied the roads in front of the NBR building to the TB Hospital this morning, preventing vehicular movement except for ambulances and emergency patients
Highlights:
- Who is protesting?: A group of individuals injured during July-August mass uprising
- Which road did they block?: Several roads in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Agargaon and Shyamoli areas of the capital
- What do they want: Proper medical care, treatment abroad, rehabilitation, and state recognition
- Demonstrations began at 6:30pm yesterday
- The blockade has resulted in congestion spreading to other parts of the city
A group of individuals, who were injured during the July-August mass uprising, blocked several roads in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Agargaon and Shyamoli areas of the capital today (2 February) demanding proper medical care, treatment abroad, rehabilitation, and state recognition.
Vehicle movement in these areas came to a halt after they started protesting on the roads this morning, causing significant inconvenience for commuters, in front of the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital (NIOH), National Board of Revenue (NBR) building, and 250-bed TB Hospital.
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Talking to The Business Standard at around 1:20pm, Aslam Sagar, an assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Mohammadpur traffic zone, said the protesters were still on the road.
He said Vehicular movement remained halted since last night (1 February), when the protesters started their demonstrations by blocking the roads in front of the hospitals.
This morning, they blocked the Shishu Mela intersection near the Shyamoli bus stand as well, stopping both the incoming and outgoing traffic on the Mirpur-Gabtoli road, he said.
The demonstration began at around 6:30pm yesterday (1 February) in front of NIOH at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and later escalated as protesters moved to the streets at 11pm causing severe traffic congestion.
The demonstrators occupied the roads in front of the NBR building to the TB Hospital this morning, preventing vehicular movement except for ambulances and emergency patients.
Around 200 protesters, including injured individuals and their families, staged a sit-in protest near NITOR, commonly known as Pangu Hospital, blocking routes from Shishu Mela to Agargaon and Mirpur Road.
Several protesters vented anger, saying they were not receiving the proper treatment even though they sustained severe injuries, including some who lost vision in one eye and others in both.
They expressed frustration over the slow assistance process from the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation, which works to ensure the welfare of the families of the martyrs of the July-August uprising and provide financial and humanitarian support to the families of victims.
Protesters said that the aid process was too slow and those currently hospitalised are not receiving adequate medical care. They demanded better treatment, even if it meant being sent abroad.
They also expressed dissatisfaction over the treatment provided by the visiting team of Singaporean doctors, who started treating the uprising injured at NIOH yesterday.
Government representatives are yet to visit the scene and meet with the protesters, who have vowed that they would not leave until their demands are met.
