Medical board to be formed for Khaleda

A medical board will be formed for checking up on BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's health, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday.

“Her health is being checked regularly. Considering Khaleda Zia's illness, a medical board will be formed with advice from doctors. Her personal physicians will be in the medical board. We will take the next step following their suggestions,” he said.

The minister also said government hospitals offer the best treatment, he added.

Responding to a query, he said the medical board will be formed immediately but did not mention any specific date.

Earlier, BNP leaders requested the home minister to immediately take Khaleda Zia to United Hospital.

A 10-member delegation led by party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir met the home minister at his Secretariat office yesterday and made the plea.

“We requested the minister to take our leader to a specialised hospital. She wants to be treated at United Hospital; and we requested as such,” Fakhrul said after the  meeting.

The minister assured that he would take steps to this end after talking to the secretary of the respective ministry, prison authorities and other officials, he added.

Responding to a query, Fakhrul said the home minister did not mention any date but said he would hold a meeting with the officials.

The BNP chief has been at the Old Dhaka Central Jail on the capital's Nazimuddin Road after she was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8.

Earlier, a medical board was formed to examine her health when she became sick. The board had said her condition was not severe. On April 14, the former premier was taken to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University for an x-ray.

BNP, however, showed no confidence in the medical board's report.

Its leaders also met the home minister on March 27 and April 23 over Khaleda's health condition.

KHALEDA'S WRIT PETITION

The BNP chairperson yesterday filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking its directive on the government to send her to a specialised hospital for treatment.

The HC may hold the hearing today, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, a lawyer for Khaleda, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Citing the petition, he said the BNP chairperson was seriously ill as she had been suffering from various diseases; therefore, she needs to be admitted to a specialised hospital for treatment.