Speakers, including those working directly with individuals injured in the July鈥揂ugust uprising, emphasised the urgent need for a coordinated and integrated system to ensure that the victims receive effective and comprehensive rehabilitation.
They made the observation at a discussion titled 鈥楻ehabilitation of July-August Mass Uprising victims鈥� at an auditorium of The Structural Engineers Limited on Saturday organised by Visionary Voice with the help of Architect Mubasshar Hossain Foundation.
The speakers said that due to a lack of coordination among government, non-government, and voluntary organisations 鈥� as well as the absence of a unified system with updated records of who received what kind of assistance 鈥� some victims received support multiple times, while many others were left without any help at all.
Drik Picture Library founder and renowned photographer Shahidul Alam said that there are few issues that can be addressed 鈥� coordination, verification, segmentation, and disbursement problems, all of which can be resolved through technical and strategic solutions without much complexity.
He also emphasised utilising existing large organisations equipped with proper facilities for treatment and rehabilitation.
Umama Fatema, one of the founders of the voluntary organisation Empowering Our Fighters said that the government needs to establish a proper system to ensure fair compensation and rehabilitation for the victims of the July uprising; otherwise, it will be difficult to guarantee support for every individual affected.
She also urged the government to formally recognise the organisations working for the victims and families of the uprising, initiate DNA profiling of unidentified martyrs, and address the existing disputes over the share of financial assistance among the parents, wives, and children of the martyrs provided by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs.
On behalf of the 鈥楯uly-August Chabbisher Reen鈥� group, Samia Rahman Preema emphasized the need to create a comprehensive database of injured people, detailing who received what types of treatment, who faces ongoing physical risks, who has gone abroad for care, and who still requires specific treatments to ensure proper medical support.
She also mentioned that there was complexity surrounding the government鈥檚 categorisation of injured people based on injury severity, as the list wrongly categorises some individuals while some injured people have yet to be included.
Professor Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said that out of around 20,000 injured people, mistakes may have occurred for about 1,000 of them.
He said that the list of injured and martyrs was still being verified.
Regarding the delay in disbursement of financial assistance, he said that many people did not have bank accounts or National Identity Cards, which are necessary to complete the process, so it took some time.
Social Welfare adviser Sharmin S Murshid, writer and activist Rahnuma Ahmed, July Shaheed Smriti Foundation general secretary Shamsi Ara Zaman, the foundation鈥檚 former chief executive officer Mir Mahbubur Rahman Snigdho and mother of Tahir Zaman Priyo, a young journalist and activist killed in the uprising, were present at the event conducted by Visionary Voice member Farhana Sharmin Emu.
