Sleepless in Shahjadpur: Closed eyes only bring nightmares for residents

Sadia Akhter, a third-year honours student, is still reeling from what she has been seeing since Friday morning.

“I woke up to the sound of shouts and slogans. Even the entry to the alleys were packed,” said the resident of Shahjadpur.

By 12pm, she heard a barrage of gunshots. After a break, she looked outside her window: it was a scene out of a war movie.

There were a number of wounded littering the streets – some with “bullet wounds” to the stomach, others with holes in their heads.

She saw people carrying those who could no longer move. Police firing rubber bullets continued late into the night. There was a pause, but then it would begin again in the morning.

And so it continued for the next few days.

By Monday, the situation had calmed. Even today, there were few people on the streets.

But for Sadia, the ordeal hasn’t ended.

“I wake up to nightmares of gun fights every day. I can barely sleep,” she told The Business Standard, highlighting the mental toll the events had taken on her.

Akram Hossain, a private job holder in North Badda, provided an eye-witness account of what he saw.

As he lives right next to the AMZ Hospital, he said the scenes he saw are hard to capture with words.

The AMZ Hospital has already seen the 15 dead, alongside scores of others injured in the deadly protests.

“There was a 15-year-old kid who lived here. He went to see the protests, but was shot dead. I saw them carrying his body,” he said.

“I don’t have the same zeal for life. I don’t even feel like eating since then,” he said.

Aside from the mental toll, the financial losses have also been mounting.

Joynal Abedin, who owns a hardware store in Khilbarirtek, in the same area, shuttered his shop on Thursday.

He opens sporadically, but when clashes break out, he has to shut immediately. For Friday and Saturday, he kept his stores completely shut.

Per day, he has to spend Tk1,200-1,500 just on rent, a breakdown of his expenses shows.

On Sunday, he began opening more frequently, but full operations and footfalls are a far cry.

“We have already faced more than a year of economic crisis. And now this situation. I still don’t know how I can recoup my losses, which have only been piling on, one after the other.”

Elsewhere in Bashtola in Notun Bazar, the streets still wear a deserted look.

The area, next to the American Embassy, still has heavy military cover.

In the last few days, at least 15 people have died in clashes between protesters and police in this very area as mentioned earlier.

Shahidul Islam, a tea-seller in the area, says he can barely sell 2-3 cups an hour.

“Usually this is a very busy area. I could easily sell 500 cups a day. But this is no longer the case. My family depends on me for income. Now, I can’t even provide that,” he said.

Elderly locals also emphasized that they had never seen a situation like this in the areas.

“It’s shocking,” one of them said, pointing to the majority of the shops closed in the area.

Almost all shops were closed on the main road, with some open in the interiors of localities.