By Md Aynal Haque

RAJSHAHI, Dec 3, 2024 (BSS) – Carrying bullet in his spinal cord for more than three months, Muhammad Salman, 21, who sustained bullet-wounds during the anti-discrimination student movement, is still fighting for full recovery through removing bullet from his body.  

His parents are now passing days with grave anxiety as they have left no stone unturned to remove the bullet from Salman’s body. Salman’s fate remains hanging as no doctors could assure him of removing the bullet through surgery  
 
"We have contacted all possible doctors and hospitals but couldn't find any path as yet," said Muhammad Rabi, 48, father of Salman, adding their son is suffering from acute pain in most parts of his body round the clock.

Doctors at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) conducted a surgical operation on August 5 but couldn't remove the bullet despite their four-hour painstaking efforts. The bullet pierced into the backbone after passing through the alimentary canal and intestines badly.

Salman, who hailed from Bashari area under Kasiadanga Police Station in the metropolis, sustained bullet wounds when the leaders and workers of Awami League opened fire on the anti-discrimination students' agitation at Alupatty on August 5.
 
Fellow students participating in the movement rushed him to RMCH and admitted him there in the afternoon.
 
A first-year honours student of the Department of Philosophy at Bangabandhu Degree College, Salman was an active participant in the anti-discrimination students' movement from the very beginning.

Apart from joining the protest, he used to inspire his friends to participate in the movement and conducted massive campaigns through his social media platforms like facebook and whatsapp.
 
Ahmed Nur, one of Salman’s childhood friends and classmates, said like other days, in the morning of August 5 Salman called all of his friends and assembled them at Talaimary crossing.
 
There he bought national flags for all of his friends with his own money and started marching towards Alupatty breaking the curfew enforced by the Awami League government.
 
While they were on their way to Alupatty, Awami League and Juba league men opened fire on the students' procession by using snipers from the top of Swachh Tower, a 17-storey building beside the road, repeatedly.
 
At that time, Salman along with many classmates sustained the bullet injury on the left side of abdomen. A horrifying situation was prevailing on the city streets at that time.
 
"I along with all my family members are still in the grip of deep anxieties about getting back to my normal life,” said Salman, while talking to BSS over phone on Tuesday.
 
He said RMCH doctors repaired my intestine as it was badly torn. But the bullet still remained in his spinal cord.
 
The bullet-hit student is suffering from anxiety and frustration after becoming a victim of anti-discrimination student movement, which toppled the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
 
Salman was an active participant in the student-people movement that gradually gained momentum and ended the 16 years rule of fascist Sheikh Hasina.
   
Shikha Begum, 38, mother of Salman, demanded exemplary punishment to those who were responsible for the attack on the students. She said, “Those who ordered the Awami and Jubo League men to kill people and responsible for the mass killing should be brought to book through proper trial, she added.