Shammi Haque stood amid the rubble of Radda MCH-FP Centre on Monday with her 20-year-old daughter beside her, looking at a place intertwined with decades of her family’s life.
She had come here for prenatal check-ups when that daughter was still in her womb. Later, she brought her children here for vaccinations. Years passed, and she returned with her grandchild for the same care.
Now, broken doors, exposed iron rods and piles of bricks stood where generations of her family had received treatment.
“When she was in my womb, I used to come here every month for check-ups. I vaccinated my children here. I also brought my grandchild here for vaccination,” Haque said, pointing to her daughter.
Three days after attackers demolished and looted much of the Mirpur-1 health centre, Haque was among the patients and residents returning to Radda -- some carrying memories, others carrying infants in their arms -- as its staff resumed limited healthcare services from two partially cleared rooms amid the ruins.
“Will this Radda ever return to what it was before?” she asked.
Despite the extensive damage, the centre continued providing limited healthcare services over the weekend and expanded operations on Monday, with mothers bringing children for vaccination and pregnant women arriving for consultations.
By 2pm, 56 children had received vaccines.
Routine Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) services and measles-rubella vaccinations were being provided, along with HPV and tetanus-diphtheria vaccines for adolescent girls.
On Saturday and Sunday, staff had administered vaccines outside the centre’s main gate. On Monday, they moved back inside after workers cleared two rooms sufficiently to allow limited services to resume.
The resumption came as the fallout from the attack widened. Police have so far arrested 10 people, while Shah Ali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Jahangir Alam has been removed after a preliminary investigation found negligence and failure by police to act during the attack.
Yet a central question remains unanswered: who was ultimately behind an operation in which hundreds of people allegedly descended on the health facility, vandalised and looted it and demolished much of its infrastructure?
Radda authorities have filed a case naming former BNP Dhaka North City unit member Mohammad Hanif Mia and around 250 unidentified people.
Allegations have also surfaced over political links to people associated with the cooperative that put up signboards at the site after the demolition.
BNP lawmaker Ferdousi Ahmed Misty, whose name has been linked to the controversy by local residents and political figures, has denied any involvement.
“We hope to provide the same services as before and serve people properly,” Radda physician Dr Sahanaj Islam told Dhaka Tribune. “We want these buildings to be renovated.”
But conditions remained difficult.
With electricity unavailable, two fans were running on power drawn from a neighbouring building as mothers waited with their children.
Sayma Akter, who brought her child for a measles-rubella vaccine, said she had long depended on Radda.
“It feels very bad to see the centre in this condition,” she said. “There was no electricity, and my baby was sweating and crying. I hope to see this place restored to how it was very soon.”
Reshma Akter arrived with her 26-day-old baby.
“I always came here,” she said. “Today, I came and saw the destroyed structure of Radda. Those who did this did not do the right thing.”
Not every patient could receive the service they needed.
Kajol came with her one-and-a-half-year-old son Anas but eventually had to take him home without vaccination.
“They have nothing left. Even the refrigerator has been broken and taken away,” she said.
Police were there, but failed to act
The centre was attacked around midnight on September 25, when more than 200 people allegedly entered the premises armed with hammers, sticks and locally made weapons.
According to the case filed by Radda Executive Director Dr Nasrin Akhter, the attackers restrained security guards before using an excavator to demolish structures and vandalise rooms used for family planning, ultrasonography, vaccination and laboratory services.
Medicines, two ultrasonography machines, a generator, computers, printers, refrigerators, air conditioners and steel cupboards were among the items allegedly taken.
The police inquiry has since established a critical element of the night’s events: officers were present while valuables were being removed but failed to take effective action before a vehicle carrying looted goods left the site.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said preliminary findings established negligence on the part of police. Departmental action is being initiated, while OC Jahangir Alam has been removed from Shah Ali Police Station.
Police have arrested 10 people in the case. All have been sent to jail.
Radda’s case names former Dhaka North BNP member Mohammad Hanif Mia and around 200-250 unidentified people. Hanif has publicly denied involvement.
The police inquiry has identified individuals allegedly involved directly in the attack and looting, but investigators have declined to disclose whether politically affiliated figures have emerged in the investigation.
Security personnel have now been deployed at the front and rear of the centre.
Workers were also clearing debris on Monday as efforts began to restore the facility.
State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque visited Radda on Sunday and said renovation would begin, while the centre’s management said it had been assured that restoration would be undertaken quickly.
Nasrin said staff wanted security so they could work without fear of another attack.
“We want to continue providing services as before,” she said. “We expect the buildings that were demolished to be restored to their previous condition.”
Tk50 lakh pledged for rebuilding
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman visited the damaged facility on Monday afternoon and announced Tk50 lakh in initial assistance for its reconstruction.
He also alleged that an attack of such scale could not have occurred without backing from people connected to the ruling party and demanded the immediate arrest and punishment of everyone involved.
Members and supporters of the Communist Party of Bangladesh’s Dhaka North City unit also demonstrated outside the centre, demanding justice and its immediate reconstruction.
Amid the political visits, investigations and competing allegations, however, the most immediate struggle was unfolding inside the shattered centre itself.
Mothers were again arriving with children in their arms. Health workers were again administering vaccines. Pregnant women were again seeking advice.
And amid the rubble of a facility that had served her family for generations, Shammi Haque’s demand was much simpler.
“This place has served my family for years,” she said. “I just want to see Radda return to the way it was.”
