Khaleda's treatment: Govt’s stance could lead to 'new political crisis'

The government's refusal to allow BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to receive medical treatment abroad could lead to a new political crisis in the country, warned twenty-three prominent citizens in a joint statement today.

They also urged the government to review its decision.

Khaleda Zia's doctors have recommended that the BNP chairperson be taken abroad immediately for medical treatment. And according to the country's top lawyers, there is no legal barrier to sending her overseas, they said in the statement.

Expressing concerns, they said despite being in a critical state, Khaleda Zia is being deprived of better treatment abroad.

They said the notion that "citizens' right to live is above all politics" was not reflected in the law ministry's disapproval of her treatment abroad.

In his opinion on an application, Law Minister Anisul Huq recently wrote Khaleda Zia cannot travel abroad for treatment.

On October 1, the minister said the file with his opinion was sent to the home ministry, referring to a letter the BNP chief's brother Shamim Iskandar wrote to the government, seeking permission to take her abroad for treatment and her permanent release from jail.

The government in March 2020 suspended Khaleda's jail sentence and released her on two conditions, Anisul said, adding that the matter had already been disposed of and settled.

The conditions were: that Khaleda would not travel out of the country and she would get treatment within the country, he added.

On October 9, the medical board formed for Khaleda Zia's treatment said there was nothing more they could do for her in Bangladesh and advised sending her abroad for better treatment.

Shahabuddin Talukder, chief of the medical board, told a press briefing that water had accumulated in her stomach, the lungs were infected, and there was a slow bleeding in her stomach.

The signatories of the joint statement include former adviser to a caretaker government M Hafizuddin Khan, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder, Chief Executive Officer of election monitoring group Brotee Sharmeen Murshid, eminent jurist Shahdeen Malik, Chief Executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association Syeda Rizwana Hasan, local government expert Tofail Ahmed, acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam, Executive Director of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit Prof CR Abrar, Prof Asif Nazrul of Dhaka University's law department, rights activists Shireen Huq, Nur Khan and Rahnuma Ahmed, Executive Director of Ubinig Farida Akhtar, and neurologist Prof Naila Z Khan.