Biography:
Atiqul worked as a salesman at the Rajlaxmi Complex in Uttara. He is the youngest of five siblings. Due to poverty, he could not continue his education beyond the tenth grade. Although his father now owns a small furniture showroom in Uttara, his siblings still work as day laborers.
Activism:
Atiqul said, “When I saw students my age and my brothers losing their lives in the movement, I couldn’t just sit safely at home anymore. I secretly started joining all the protests in Uttara from July 18, without informing my parents or employer.” He shared that he had been injured multiple times even before August 5, but nothing could stop him. He showed reporters the rubber bullet scars on his body.
What Exactly Happened to Atiqul That Day?
It was August 5—the day the protesters called the 36 July Uprising. That day, a man was shot in Uttara. A bullet pierced through his skull. Atiqul rushed to help him. A companion told him, “There was no way to save him.” But Atiqul refused to give up. He believed that doctors might still be able to save the man. He placed the wounded individual in a rickshaw and instructed the driver to take him to the nearest hospital. At that time, Sheikh Hasina had already fled to India, but her loyal police force continued to fire at protesters. Recalling the moment, Atiqul said, “I begged them not to shoot us. I told them our fight wasn’t against them. But they didn’t listen.”
Moments later, another protester was shot. Once again, Atiqul ran to help. But this time, he was also shot in the arm. With thousands of protesters flooding the streets of Dhaka, there were no available vehicles. Still, his companions managed to take him to a local hospital in Uttara, where doctors removed the bullet. However, they warned that to save his arm, he needed to be transferred immediately to the National Institute of CardioVascular Diseases (NICVD). They told him, “Something must be done within eight hours to save your arm.” However, Atiqul claims that the doctors at NICVD neglected his treatment, wasting an entire day before transferring him to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR). By then, it was too late. To save his life, his arm had to be amputated.
