After recovery, what?

The father of the three who suffered 17 percent burns was one of the several blockade arson victims who talked to The Daily Star at Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday.

Siddiqur's respiratory tract was affected in an attack in Mymensingh on January 5, the first anniversary of a one-sided general election, which saw the Awami League win a second consecutive term and when the BNP and its allies launch another spate of violence.

The auto-rickshaw Siddiqur owns would earn him Tk 20,000 a month, he said, adding that he and his family might not have been in such a dire strait had there been no political violence.

Piar Mian, 55, a trucker, who suffered 12 percent burns in an attack in Comilla on January 11, was the sole man earning for his three-member family.

In addition, he was repaying the money he borrowed for sending his son abroad. The son, however, returned empty handed and is still jobless.

Piar's monthly salary was Tk 12,000.

Apart from other parts of the body, both Siddiqur and Piar suffered burns to their hands.

Prof Samanta Lal Sen, a burn injury expert, said motor vehicle drivers, who sustained injuries to the hands, might not sit behind the wheel again, at least in the near future. "The government should rehabilitate such victims in other occupations," he said.

Prof Sen added that those who received below 20 percent burns usually needed three to four months to recover fully, while the condition of a patient with above 40 percent burns was considered serious.

A traumatised Siddiqur is still haunted by the arson attack. When asked if he fears driving the auto-rickshaw again, the man said, "Yes, I do because my body is burnt."

He said that since the incident, his younger brother, who also can drive, had not taken the auto-rickshaw out the on road, fearing attacks. He rents it out to other drivers daily, he said.

According to DMCH sources, 50 arson victims were taking treatment in the hospital yesterday. At least seven of them were involved in transport-related occupations and one was a rickshaw-puller.

The hospital has treated 86 arson patients since December 28 last year, a time around when the country plunged into another spell of turmoil. Five of them died, the sources said.

Talking to The Daily Star, Piara Begum, mother of bus helper Masum, wondered who would compensate them for what they had lost.

Her 15-year-old son was earning more than what his father, a rickshaw puller, did for their six-member family, she said.

Masum received 20 percent burns on January 14 in Narsingdi.

Since then, his father has been in a dilemma: whether he should be driving the rickshaw in Narsingdi to feed the family or attending his son in Dhaka, said Piara.

"I've received money four to five times since my son was admitted to the hospital. But I spent all those on his treatment."

Asked about rehabilitation, Piara said her son should not ask money from the government. "If the government is empathetic enough, it will come forward of its own."