The Liberation War Heroine refused financial assistance from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and others.
Birangana (Liberation War Heroine) Rama Chowdhury has been undergoing treatment for a hip-bone fracture at a private clinic in Chittagong for the past three weeks.
Chowdhury, 77 years old, fell down and broke her right femur on December 24.
She also has various old-age complications including diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and hypertension along with a bedsore, according to doctors.
“She was hospitalized with an intertrochanteric and requires undergoing a surgery but she is afraid of surgery,” said Dr AKM Arif Uddin, chief executive officer at Medical Centre Ltd.
The doctor suggested taking her to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Nitor) for better treatment.
However, Rama’s only living son Jahar said he avoided the government hospitals due to an unpleasant experience at the Orthopedic Department of Chittagong Medical College Hospital earlier. Rama was left unattended on the floor for around three and a half hours in the hospital, Jahar added.
“The cost of treatment keeps piling up since she is receiving treatment in a private clinic. It is far beyond my capacity to bear the astronomical cost of surgical operation of my mother,” Jahar said.
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However, Rama refused financial assistance from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and others.
“I did not see any reason to seek favour from Sheikh Hasina since I am senior to her by age. Instead, I blessed her on that occasion,” Rama said when she overheard the conversation between the correspondent and her son.
Born in 1941, Rama obtained her MA in Bengali literature from Dhaka University in 1961 and is the author of 19 books.
She lost her husband and two children in the Liberation War of 1971. On May 13, 1971, Pakistani occupational army brutally tortured and violated her as well as torching her house at Popadia in Boalkhali upazila of Chittagong.
Out of grief and respect for freedom fighters, Roma started walking barefooted from 1972.
Though she momentarily stopped walking barefooted for health condition, she resumed the practice on December 16, 1998 when her youngest son was killed in a road accident and never stopped the practice afterwards.
When the correspondent approached the courageous lady and enquired about her health, Rama burst into tears and began to recite a poem of Rabindranath Tagore: “I do not want to die in this beautiful world; I want to live amidst men.”
Source: Dhaka Tribune.
