Twenty-three eminent citizens of the country on Thursday urged the government to allow former prime minister and main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia to go abroad for treatment.
The citizens made the urge in a statement and said that there were instances that convicted political leaders were allowed to go abroad for treatment.
They called upon the law ministry to review its opinion so that ailing Khaleda Zia could go aboard for receiving treatment.
The signatories to the joint statement included former adviser to caretaker government M Hafizuddin Khan, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder, photographer Shahidul Alam, writer Rahnuma Ahmed and women activists Dr Naila Z Khan, Farida Akhter and Syeda Rizwana Hasan.
On Monday, at a press conference in Dhaka, Khaleda Zia’s medical board advised an immediate liver transplant as they had exhausted all medical options available for her in Bangladesh.
Medical board chief Shahabuddin Talukder told reporters that they had done everything in their capacity to give her treatment. ‘Now we have nothing to do. She needs advanced treatment.’
Khaleda has been undergoing treatment at the hospital since August 9 with multiple health complexities, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.
The medical board recommended that Khaleda be urgently sent to a multidisciplinary centre abroad as there were no options available for her now in Bangladesh.
The board also said that the 78-year-old former prime minister’s life was at risk because of a lack of proper treatment to stop water accretion in her stomach and chest, internal bleeding, and infections caused by her liver cirrhosis problem.
