The patients at the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital had to suffer immensely on Thursday as treatment remained suspended there for the second consecutive day on the day.
Treatment at the institute was suspended following Wednesday鈥檚 clash among the hospital staff, outpatients, and in-patients who were admitted to the hospital after being injured in the July-August uprising. The clash left at least 21 people injured.
On Thursday, the institute鈥檚 main gate remained closed and the members of the law enforcement agencies were deployed on its premises.
The members of the Bangladesh Ansar turned away the patients who came to the hospital from both within and outside Dhaka.聽
Zohra Khatun, an elderly woman who came to the institute from Jamalpur Thursday morning amid rain to get her glasses fixed and consult doctors, said that she came early so that she could return home on the day as I did not have anyone in Dhaka.
鈥楤ut now the hospital is closed, and I don鈥檛 have the money to go to somewhere else,鈥� said Zohra, who lost both her husband and only daughter.
There were traces of blood in the hospital corridors from those injured in the clash, according to July injured. Several glasses of two windows on the fourth floor where patients injured in the July uprising were admitted were found shattered.
The lifts remained closed, and no doctors, nurses, or staff were available inside the institute.
A few patients who were staying at the hospital said that most of the general patients, including those need surgery, left the hospital on Wednesday, and some left on Thursday.
Kawsar Ahmed, who came from Narayanganj and was admitted on Tuesday and underwent eye surgery the same day, is staying on the fourth floor. 鈥業鈥檓 confused about what to do. I鈥檓 waiting for the situation to return to normal so that I can complete my treatment.鈥�
The patients injured in the July uprising were staying in their rooms on Thursday.
Ruhan Mahmud, who lost his right eye at Kushtia Sadar Thana Mor on August 4, 2024 and has since been in and out of the hospital, said that the hospital staff attacked them first on Wednesday.
The in-patients said that they received neither food nor treatment since Wednesday noon.
NIOH director Khair Ahmed Choudhury, who went on a seven-day leave on Wednesday, told 抖阴精品 Wednesday night that the hospital鈥檚 staff, doctors, and nurses began a work stoppage demanding their security, a day after he was besieged by protesters following suicide attempts by four July uprising survivors.
At one point, a clash broke out among the hospital staff, outpatients and those injured in the 2024 July Uprising, leaving around 12 hospital staff, including three doctors, injured, he added.
In-patient Md Abdul Khalek, who is a July uprising victim, said that at least nine July injured persons were hurt in the clash and went to seek treatment at other hospitals.
鈥楥urrently, only the July Uprising injured, both those admitted here and joined from other hospitals, are at NIOH. All other patients, doctors, and staff have left the hospital,鈥� the hospital director said.
The director, who is considering not returning to the hospital after his leave due to insecurity, said that there was an alleged rift among the July injured over access to facilities, including treatment abroad.
On Tuesday, several individuals injured in the July Uprising went to the NIOH director鈥檚 room to discuss issues related to their treatment and, at one point, threatened to pour petrol on their bodies. The director, who was confined for two hours, was later escorted out of the room by the army, police, and with help from several July-injured individuals, he said.
Abdul Khalek, who was present during all the incidents at the hospital, said that they had no intention of besieging the hospital director and that one of their fellows, who had earlier consumed poison, brought petrol out of frustration.
He added that, on Wednesday, hospital staff first got into a verbal clash with some outdoor patients, and later beat one of the July injured before attacking other injured individuals living at the hospital鈥檚 fourth floor, which further escalated the tension.
The situation grew more tense when law enforcers charged batons on them at about 3:00pm, said the July injured.
He said that the situation became 鈥榥ormal鈥� after the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation chief executive officer聽 Lieutenant Colonel Kamal Akbar came to the spot in the evening and talked with the agitated injured victims and the law enforcers.
In a press release on Wednesday, the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation condemned the incident and demanded a fair investigation to bring all those directly involved, as well as those who instigated it, to justice.
On Sunday, four men, including one who had recently returned from abroad after treatment, who had suffered eye injuries during the July mass uprising attempted to commit suicide by ingesting poison at the NIOH, reportedly out of frustration over their unmet demands.
