Own Correspondent: The young Syed Md. was arrested while protesting the increase in dialysis fee at Chittagong Medical College (CHMEC) Hospital. Mostakim got bail.
Sunday (January 15) Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate-2 Court Judge Md. Ali Ullah granted his bail.
Confirming the issue of bail, Zia Habib Ahsan, human rights lawyer of Mostakim, told the media that the court granted bail on a bond of 2,000 rupees in the guaranty of a lawyer and a local person.
It is known that the patients and their relatives of Chittagong Medical College (CHMEC) Hospital started protesting against the increase in kidney dialysis fee last week. Following this, the patients and their relatives protested by blocking the road in front of the main gate of the hospital from 11 o’clock on Tuesday, January 10. Mostakim participated in that protest. At that time, Mustaqeem’s mother Nasrin Akhter was undergoing dialysis at Sandor Dialysis Center in Chamek Hospital. Both kidneys of Nasreen Akhtar are damaged. He was undergoing dialysis for the past seven years. He has four daughters and one son. Mustaqeem, a madrasa student, was paying tuition for the family and his mother’s medical expenses. Mustaqeem has a sister with disabilities.
Meanwhile, Mustaqeem was in trouble due to the increase in fees at Sendor Dialysis Center of Chamek Hospital. Along with others, Mostakim also participated in the protest on January 10. At one point in the afternoon of that day, the police of Panchlaish police station attacked the protestors. The police arrested Mustaqeem. After getting the news, Mustaqeem’s mother Nasreen Akhtar went to the police station after getting the news. On that night, the police were attacked on the opposite side of the incident and the police filed a case accusing Mustaqeem and 50-60 other unknown people.
The next day, the police presented him in court and applied for a five-day remand. However, human rights lawyers could not hold a bail hearing as he was produced after the court session. After the remand hearing the next day, the court canceled the remand and ordered Karaft to be interrogated. At the same time, the court rejected his bail application. When he applied for bail again on Sunday, the judge granted Mustakim bail.
On behalf of Mustakim, around a hundred lawyers from the human rights organization Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation participated in the bail hearing on Sunday. At the same time, the lawyer of the National Human Rights Commission also participated in the hearing.
It is known that a patient has to undergo dialysis eight times a month. For this, 2 thousand 795 taka had to be paid in advance for the first two times of the month. A patient had to pay Rs 510 for the next six times. But from the beginning of the new year, instead of 2 thousand 795 rupees, the fee is 2 thousand 935 rupees. However, instead of the first two times, the fee is now fixed four times. The remaining four times have been increased from Tk 510 to Tk 535. This has almost doubled the dialysis fee per patient per month. Earlier, where 8 thousand 650 taka was spent per month, under the new rule 13 thousand 880 taka is being spent.
Kidney Dialysis Center was started in Chamek Hospital with 31 machines on March 5, 2017 for kidney patients of Greater Chittagong. According to the private partnership agreement with the Ministry of Health, Sandor will operate their operations here for 10 years.
