The first time Priya Khan stepped into Dhaka Medical College Hospital during the July movement, the corridors felt like a battlefield. Stretchers rushed past, cries rose and fell, and the smell of blood clung to the air. “I arranged 730 bags of blood during this movement,” she said. “The amount of blood, the injuries, and the shrieks of pain were almost impossible to bear. It left me sick and traumatised. But I didn't stop.”
She had been in Kuakata with Brihonnola, the community initiative she is part of, when news of clashes at Dhaka University reached her. She came straight to DMCH, deciding that the hospital would be her frontline.
Inside, she and her teammates raised funds for medicines and tried to keep pace with the endless stream of injured. At one point, 36 Hijras donated blood to help cover a severe shortage. When hospital blood banks refused to release bags, she went to buy them herself.
Priya faced threats and eviction, including being pushed out of the hospital because of her transgender identity, yet she refused to stop helping. “We were constantly being threatened by the police. They warned they'd file cases against me.”
In the end, she says simply and proudly: “Many now carry our blood in their veins.”