Doctors say her ability to fight diseases is decreasing day by day because of over 1,500 splinters inside her body, including in the head, lung, and chest.
She has undergone 24 surgeries but is still far from regaining her strength.
The splinters cause her unbearable pain constantly and remind her of the grisly grenade attack that left 24 people dead during an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004.
She is Nasima Ferdushe, now in her 60s — one of the most unfortunate survivors of the blast.
“Doctors advised me to do an MRI test. But different hospitals and diagnostic centres said my body is not fit for it due to the presence of so many splinters in my body,” said Nasima, a former lawmaker, on Wednesday.
“I know I am heading towards death,” she added. “But I will die in peace if I can see the execution of the verdict over the heinous attack before my last breath.”
Today is the 16th anniversary of the heinous attack, which also left over 300 wounded.
AL chief Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader, narrowly escaped death with injuries to her right ear. Ivy Rahman, wife of late president Zillur Rahman, was among those killed.
“Like me, many other survivors of the grenade attack are waiting for the end of life with unbearable pain and suffering since 2004. But our sufferings and agony would have lessened if we could see completion of the trial process and hanging of the perpetrators,” said Nasima.
She was only able to walk after five years of treatment and had been completely bedridden for nine months.
Mahbuba Parvin, another survivor, has about 1,800 splinters in her body, including two in her brain, and also wants quick completion of all the procedures to pave the way for execution of those involved in the grenade attack.
“When I was taken to the hospital, everyone assumed I was dead and I was kept with the dead bodies at first,” she said.
“Even 16 years after the incident, it’s hard for me to accept that I have become a physically disabled person,” Mahbuba added.
Talking to this correspondent, she said that every year on the eve of the grenade attack anniversary, the survivors express their agony stemming from the delay in completion of the trial process.
“This year, we are also doing the same. I don’t know if I will be able to see implementation of the verdict in my lifetime,” lamented Mahbuba.
She said several survivors of the grenade attack, including veteran AL leader Suranjit Sengupta and former Dhaka city mayor Mohammad Hanif, already breathed their last without seeing justice.
In an emotion-choked voice, she appealed to the government to take measures to complete the trial process to give peace to the departed souls.
Asked about her physical condition, Mahbuba said living has become a curse for her.
“Those who were injured in the grenade attack feel like dying every moment,” Mahbuba, now a vice-president of Dhaka North Swechchhasebak League, said.
In photos that appeared in newspapers after the attacks, Mahbuba was seen in a blood-stained sari lying among the dead on the spot.
She first moved her limbs after three days in a coma, and regained full consciousness after 25 days.
Kazi Shahanara Yeasmin, who carries 134 splinters in her body, said, “I don’t know when I will die but I want to see implementation of the lower court verdict before my death and punishment of the perpetrators.”
A lawyer of the Supreme Court and vice president of Awami Swechchhasebak League, she added, “I will never get back what I lost. I will never be able to get a normal life as it was before 2004. But now I want justice. If the culprits are punished, I will get some relief.”
Bazlur Rahman, who is carrying 58 splinters in his body, said after 16 years of the grenade attack, he no longer has severe pain in his body. But the delay in completing the trial process causes him much pain.
“My agony will lessen only when I will see perpetrators being hanged. I will die in peace if the culprits are punished,” he told this correspondent over the phone.
A special court in Dhaka delivered the verdict on October 10, 2018.
BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman and 18 others were sentenced to life in prison while former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and 18 others were given the death penalty on charges of murder through criminal conspiracy.
All 38 accused were also sentenced to life in prison for causing grievous injuries to the survivors.❐
