The quiet corridors of Bangladesh’s National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital (NIOH) have turned grim in the past few days, as more than three dozen crank youth suffering from their severely injured eyes came out of the protests.
These victims are the sad realities of the violence that occurred between protesters demanding change in the process of employing ethnic people in the jobs and the police forces of Bangladesh.
One of them, 24-year-old salesman Mohammad Anik, was fired a pellet in his face when returning from work; the doctor who saw him in critical condition said there was less than 50 per cent that his eyesight would be restored.
Within the past few days, nearly 500 patients from several districts were treated by the NIOH, and all presented with severe eye injuries. Other documents from the hospitals suggest that at least 278 also had injuries to other areas of their bodies.
Another major unfavourable issue regarding the Bangladeshi police is the use of metal pellets, which the UN and organizations concerned with human rights claim are unnecessary and meet the criteria of necessity and proportionality.
While the demonstrators who sustained injuries and have no possibility of obtaining adequate medical treatment in the near future represent a part of the society – the fact remains that harsh approaches to the freedoms of assembly lead to grim outcomes.
