Far from it all, he's battling cancer in the US

BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who has been out of politics lately, is fighting cancer in the US.

The former convenor of BNP's Dhaka city unit is being treated at Manhattan's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center under Dr James Shieh's supervision. 

Even though his health condition is improving because of oral chemotherapy, the former Dhaka City Corporation mayor has no plan to return to the country right now.

“Doctors say I can go back to Bangladesh and come back here after two and a half months for a check-up but I have decided to complete my treatment staying here,” Khoka told The Daily Star over the phone.

“The government is likely to arrest me if I return to my country,” he said, referring to the recent arrest warrant issued for him by a Dhaka court for hurling crude bombs at the EC secretariat last year.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and other party leaders, including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, call him over the phone every now and then to inquire about his treatment, he said.

The senior BNP leader stays alone at his rented home in New York as doctors have advised him to avoid all sorts of public gatherings. He spends most of his time reading books and watching television.

"I am very fond of football and there are so many sports channels here. I always keep an eye on the football tournaments."

"My wife is also staying with me here. My daughter and two sons visit me whenever they can,” he added.

Talking about his illness, Khoka said, for the first time he felt pain in the left side of his chest when he was taken to the jail last year, days before the January 5 national elections. 

Released on bail, he was admitted to Birdem hospital in the capital, but the doctors there failed to find out the real problem.

"On a Birdem doctor's advice, I went to Singapore' Mount Elizabeth Hospital for better treatment and the doctor there removed my left kidney as I had been diagnosed with kidney cancer," recalled Khoka.

After the surgery, the doctors told him he did not need to undergo any biopsy, as there were “no more cancer cells in his body.”

But after a few months, Khoka again felt pain in the same side of his chest. "I went to Singapore for treatment again. This time, the doctors found a tumour on one of my ribs."

"I decided to send all my medical documents to one of my sisters in the USA so that she can forward those to Manhattan's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,” said Khoka.

He went to the US on July 1 and later rented the house in New York.

The senior BNP leader said he was hopeful about his return to the country after being cured.

"I will get involved in politics once again to serve my people and country," Khoka added.