Two arson attack victims who left Dhaka Medical College Hospital after completing their treatment yesterday have compared their recovery with being reborn, while calling for a stop to all petrol bomb attacks.
“It feels like a rebirth to me. It was beyond my imagination that I would survive. By the grace of God I have got a new life,” said Gita Sen, who fell victim to an arson attack on November 28 last year.
Before leaving the burns and plastic surgery unit yesterday, she said: “We build veterinary hospitals to save animals’ lives, but some of us [humans] try to kill other humans in the name of politics.
“Please do not throw petrol bombs to kill us. We do not do any politics,” said Gita, who was burnt along with her daughter while riding on a bus near Shahbagh.
Recollecting her experience, Gita said: “Within a few seconds I saw my skin get burnt. I was in so much pain throughout my whole body. No one could imagine how much pain I’ve had to suffer over the last month.”
Gita Sen was praised by the media and citizens for her comments to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, where she said: “We people elect you prime minister, but you do not create us.”
On the other hand, Md Abu Mia, a truck driver who fell victim to an arson attack at Chittagong on December 24, was also released from the burn unit yesterday. He echoed Gita and called for a stop to the practice of throwing life-threatening petrol bombs.
Abu Mia told the Dhaka Tribune: “Although it was the blockade, I had to drive the truck to earn money for my family. I have no connection with anybody’s politics, so why was I the victim of such violence?”
Gita and Abu Mia expressed their views at a meet-the-press programme, organised by the DMCH authority on the eve of their returning home.
Prof Dr Md Sazzad Khondokar, a plastic surgeon, said 298 people had been burnt during blockades and hartals since October 26, among whom 98 were admitted as in-patients of the burn unit, while 22 had died.
Until January 9, 46 people had returned home after receiving treatment, 30 more remained admitted at the hospital, while all except two were out of danger.
Dr Samanta Lal Sen, adviser to the burns unit, said: “In my 40 years’ experience with burn patients I had never seen such types of victims.”
He said most of the petrol bomb victims suffered inhalation damage, which was 50 to 60 times riskier than the conditions of normal burn patients.
Brigadier General Mustafizur Rahman, director of the DMCH, said the burn unit is trying to provide the best possible treatment to burn patients despite all the limitations.
The director also claimed that the hospital was providing the arson victims with all-out support, including the provision of medicine and other items free of cost.
Zulfikar Ali Lenin, director of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), told journalists that the prime minister was aware about the need to ensure proper treatment for the arson attack victims.
Lenin said he had been directed by the premier to communicate regularly with the burn unit and to provide the best help he could, adding that the PMO has a plan to reintegrate the arson attack victims back into society.
