Report in The Daily Star, Oct 13, 2023
The government’s refusal to allow BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to receive treatment abroad could lead to a new political crisis in the country, warned 23 eminent citizens in a joint statement yesterday.
They also urged the government to consider the issue.
Khaleda’s doctors recommended that she be sent abroad immediately for treatment. And according to the country’s top lawyers, there is no legal barrier to sending her abroad, they said in the statement.
Expressing concerns, the eminent citizens said though Khaleda’s condition is critical, she is being deprived of better treatment abroad.
They said that a citizen’s right to live should be “above all politics” and it was not reflected in the law ministry’s decision on sending her abroad.
BNP chief’s brother Shamim Iskandar recently wrote to the government, seeking permission to take her abroad for treatment and her permanent release from jail.
In response to the application, Law Minister Anisul Huq wrote that Khaleda cannot travel abroad for treatment.
On October 1, the minister said the file with his opinion was sent to the home ministry.
The government in March 2020 suspended Khaleda’s jail sentence and freed her on two conditions, Anisul said, adding that the matter had already been disposed of and settled.
The conditions are Khaleda would not travel abroad and she would get treatment within the country, he added.
The 79-year-old former prime minister has long been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.
On October 9, the medical board formed for Khaleda’s treatment said there was nothing more they could do for her in Bangladesh and advised sending her abroad for better treatment.
The signatories to the joint statement include M Hafizuddin Khan, former adviser to a caretaker government; Ali Imam Majumder, former cabinet secretary; Sharmeen Murshid, chief executive officer of election monitoring group Brotee; Shahdeen Malik, eminent jurist; Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association; Tofail Ahmed, local government expert; Shahidul Alam, acclaimed photographer; Prof CR Abrar, executive director of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit; Prof Asif Nazrul of Dhaka University’s law department; rights activists Shireen Huq, Nur Khan and Rahnuma Ahmed; Farida Akhtar, executive director of Ubinig; and Prof Naila Z Khan, neurologist.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/khaledas-treatment-govt-stance-could-lead-political-crisis-3442031
