More than a week has elapsed, but the nightmare still haunts 80-year-old Ramijuddin, who sustained serious injuries in the November 29 bomb blast at the Gazipur court premises. He often wakes from sleep screaming as the scenes of the tragedy often visit his dreams.

SEE PAGE 15 COL 1 FROM PAGE 16

Ramij struggles to forget those terrorising moments at Gazipur district bar association premises, as he nurses leg injuries at the orthopaedic ward in Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

A broken Ramij says he fears to sleep. "I can't sleep. When I shut my eyes, the wreckage site becomes alive," he says.

On that fateful day Ramijuddin went to Gazipur court from his home in Rathura under Kaliganj upazila of Gazipur to meet his lawyer about a land dispute case. A bomb exploded several metres away from him when he was about to come out of the lawyer's chamber. "I just heard a deafening sound," is the only thing Ramij can recall. The next moment he fell flat and became senseless.

When regained consciousness, he found himself in the midst of grizzly devastation -- surrounded by mutilated body parts, blood soaked and torn clothes, broken pieces of furniture. He could hear loud cries for help from all around, and the first batch of rescuers trying to carry the injured out. An acute pain spread all over his body and he lost his sense for the second time.

Dr M Amzad Hossain, Professor and Head, Orthopaedics and trauma Surgery, said Ramij's right leg is broken, its tissues damaged. The bruised places of his leg have already become infected. The doctor believes he may not survive the deadly injuries.

When asked what he thinks about the so-called bomb attackers goal of establishing Allah's law, Ramijuddin said Islam does not permit killing and Islam can not be established using force. "I also want Islam's rule but not such Islam as to be established by shedding blood and killing innocent people," he said.