Move to send Hasina abroad for medical treatment

By IANS

Dhaka : Personal physicians attending on jailed former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina plan to appeal to the government to send her abroad for medical treatment.


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Hasina’s eyes and ears could face serious damage and she needs intensive treatment, Syed Modasser Ali, one of the four specialists who examined her, told New Age newspaper.

Hasina, 61, sweated profusely in courtroom last Monday and doctors said she had fluctuating blood pressure. She could not attend the court proceedings required for trial in a corruption case the next day.

Ali, an ophthalmologist, said the United States might be the “best” for her.

“The condition of her eyes and ears can deteriorate if she is not provided with proper treatment immediately,” Modasser said, suggesting that government representatives should talk to her on where she would like to go for treatment and take steps accordingly.

The team of doctors met Law Advisor Mainul Hosein, who asked them to make a formal plea with the home ministry.

The move to take Hasina abroad has got entangled with Bangladesh’s domestic politics as the present interim government had tried, without success, in keeping Hasina out of the country in April last year.

It had also failed to send her political rival and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, 62, to Saudi Arabia in a simultaneous effort.

Both the leaders are now in jail facing corruption chargers, detained in special prisons and both have complained of bad health.

Advisor Mainul Hosein said last Thursday that formal applications were needed from both women leaders if they wished to leave the country.

Their respective parties, Hasina’s Awami League and Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said they would first consult the two women leaders.

Jail authorities complained earlier this week that Hasina was not cooperating with the panel of doctors and was not forthcoming with the nature and details of her sickness.

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