July uprising injured from BSMMU leave Shahbagh after police, student leader intervene

Patients under treatment at the BSMMU with injuries received during the July-August uprising took to the streets in Shahbagh this evening demanding better medical care.

Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) MD Khalid Mansur told The Business Standard that they blocked the road at around 6:30pm. 

On receiving the news, July Shaheed Smriti Foundation General Secretary Sarjis Alam went there. 

"We, along with him, persuaded them to leave the road. After about half an hour, they began to disperse from there. Since then, traffic turned normal," the OC said.

Brig Gen Md Rezaur Rahman, director (Hospital) at BSMMU, earlier said, "They  blocked the Farmgate-bound road in front of the hospital in Shahbagh at 6:45pm." 

He, however, could not confirm why they started agitating.

"I don't know why they blocked the road. They did not come to me with any demands. If they talked to me, I would have tried to resolve their problems," he said.

Earlier in November, people injured in student-led mass uprising undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) held a thirteen-and-a-half hour-long demonstration in the presence of advisers.

The protesters, some in wheelchairs and others on crutches, demanded that the health adviser must step down. 

They stated that they would not leave the street or return to the hospital until other advisers from the interim government arrived to hear their grievances.

The strike was called off after four advisers, including Asif Nazrul and Mahfuj Alam, acknowledged the shortcomings and promised to ensure proper treatment.

The more than 50 protesters returned to the hospital at the intervention of the advisers.