Siddiqur back home, wants justice

Injured Titumir college student Siddiqur Rahman wants the government to punish the policemen who would be found responsible for his eyesight loss.

“I am a victim. Personally, I have no anger against anyone. But if they [policemen] did excess, authorities should take action,” he told reporters after arriving at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday afternoon.

“Sacrifice of my blood and eyes will be worthwhile if congenial educational atmosphere returns to the seven colleges [affiliated with Dhaka University]," he added.

Siddiqur, who is from a poor family in Mymensingh's Tarakanda, said he did not want to be anyone's burden. “I want to continue my studies and get my certificates. I want a respectable position,” he added.

Siddiqur, whose eyes were damaged in police action in Shahbagh on July 20, cannot see with his right eye. He perceived little light after the bandage of his left eye was removed on August 5 after a surgery at Sankara Nethralaya in India's Chennai, according to doctors.

Siddiqur along with his brother Nayeb Ali and Zahidul Ahsan Menon, assistant professor at the National Institute of Ophthalmology (NIO) in Dhaka, who were accompanying him at the Indian hospital, reached the airport around 3:10pm.

Talking to reporters, Zahidul said there was a “little hope” of Siddiqur's left eyesight recovery. “But we have to wait for six weeks to know his visual outcome."

Siddiqur, a third-year student of political science, was taken to Chennai on July 27. The government is bearing all his medical costs.

From the airport, Siddiqur was taken to the NIO.

Meanwhile, wearing blindfolds, around 100 students of the seven colleges formed a human chain outside the terminal-1 of the airport. They demanded that the culprit policeman be brought to book.

They also announced that they would form a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club tomorrow to press home their demands, including punishment of the guilty policemen and withdrawal of the “attempt to murder” case filed against 1,200 unnamed students.

On July 20, students of the seven DU affiliated colleges -- Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Mohila College, Mirpur Government Bangla College and Government Titumir College -- were demonstrating at Shahbagh to press for their seven-point demand that include announcement of their exam dates.

Protesters outside the airport. Photo: Star

To investigate the incident, police formed two probe committees, of which a committee of Dhaka Metropolitan Police headed by Mir Rezaul Alam, joint commissioner (Operations) of DMP, submitted its report on August 7.

It found that a constable from Public Order Management of police fired the shell "intentionally or unintentionally" pointing at the crowd instead of pointing 45 degrees upwards as per the rule, while police officers, including the ones from Shahbagh Police Station, were held responsible for not briefing the subordinates properly, said a source of DMP close to the probe body.

The other committee by Ramna police is yet to submit its report.

Police earlier claimed that Siddiqur might have got the eye injuries by being hit by a flower vase or brickbats.

The claim sparked a huge outcry on social media as a video footage showed a policeman shooting a teargas canister directly at agitating students, causing Siddiqur to collapse.