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People driven up the wall

Helemul Alam and ZYMA Islam
Twenty-three-year-old Shobha, who rushed her injured brother to Dhaka Medical College Hospital from Manikganj yesterday proves that hartals and blockades are not a choice made by the common people.
"I could not stay home just because there wasa blockade. My younger brother was stabbed in the chest by his friend, and his life meant a lot more to me," she told The Daily Star.
However, her prompt action could not save Noyon, 20. It took the overworked emergency department four hours to give him "emergency" medical attention.
"Two other victims with serious blast injuries had been brought. They were attended to first because they had come first. The operating theatre was not available until four hours later," saidShobha.
But Noyon had lost too much blood by then.
A cross-section of people from many socioeconomic backgrounds yesterday described their sufferings caused by the recent shutdowns and blockades. Each of them demanded that politicians stop using them as pawns and have their lives return to normal.
While Shobha was able to have an ambulance during die blockade, Ilias, a technician, came to the hospital from Gazipurinataxi.
No private hospital admitted his son, who had a motorbike accident and received injuries that he said were not so serious.
"I came in a taxicab because I could not afford an ambulance. All the way I kept thinking about the arson attacks FROM RAGE 1
carried out on the Dhaka-Gazipur highway in the past month."
Both the Awami League and the BNP are fighting for power in their own interests, but the common people are having to pay for this, said Abdul Haque, a vendor at Gulistan.
"Frequent hartals in the last one month have already gobbled up Tk 20,000 of my Tk 50,000 capital. I am looking at a very uncertain future," he observed. Abdul could open his shop only three times in the last 10 days.
Mohammad Sohel, a 30-year-old vendor at Gulistan, said if the current political situation does not improve, he and his co-workers would have no choice but to mug people on the streets.
"My two daughters, who worked in a garment factory at Shanir Akhra, lost their jobs when it downsized its staff last month," said Salauddin, a day labourer of Shanir Akhra, whose family often skips lunch to eke out a living.
"This dealt a heavy blow to our family, as my monthly income has come down to Tk 3000 from Tk 8000."
Alamgir Hossain, a day labourer of Matuail area, said he does not understand Awami League, BNP or Jatiya Party. He just wants peace because the violence is going to make him a beggar.
"Every month I have to pay an instalment of Tk 40,000 to the bank, but political violence in the last couple of months has made this very difficult," said trucker Delowar Hossain, who is also the owner, adding that he faces a loss ofTk 2,000 on a hartal day.
"The bank will take my truck if I fail to pay three instalments in a row," he mentioned.
Mohammad Mostafa, who pulls a rickshawvan at Kutub Khali, Jatrabari, said his monthly income had dropped toTk 4000 from Tk 8000 due to the hartals and blockades.
Shanto, a college student who had been trying to get on a bus at Farmgate, said, "We told the teachers not to take classes because it is risky for us to come. But we already lost too many weekdays this month.
"They did not listen to us. Now I have to go to Khilgaon risking my life. Why is it so difficult for the political parties to reach an agreement and end hartals?"
Abdullah, who works at Medicine Corner pharmacy in Chankharpool, said he was worried because he was unable to provide medicines to many customers.
"I can't keep patients supplied with many antibiotics and important medicines, such as those that regulate blood pressure. The patients have to take their medicines regularly and cannot afford to miss a dose."