Staff Reporter :
A legal notice has been served seeking an explanation from the authorities to find out under what law Dr Ferdous has been placed in quarantine.
Barrister Gazi Farhad Reza sent the notice on behalf of Supreme Court lawyer Jamiul Haque Faisal on Friday, told the media.
Dr Fedous Khandaker, a medical specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York of the US, was sent on quarantine for 14 days on June 7 after arriving in Dhaka from New York.
The notice was sent via email to the senior secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (Department of Public Security); secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Department of Security Services); and Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. The notice warned that if an answer is not given within the next two days, appropriate legal action will be taken.
The notice asks why Dr Ferdous was the only one who was sent to quarantine whereas various other passengers and the Chinese expert team who had previously arrived by plane were not sent to institutional quarantine.
The notice states that Dr Ferdous landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 4:45 pm on Sunday to serve the people of Bangladesh.
At the airport, members of a law enforcement agency sent him to quarantine. He is currently kept in institutional quarantine at the BRAC Training Center in Dhaka, the notice mentions.
The notice also states that Dr Ferdous had brought some medical protection equipment for doctors fighting against coronavirus which did not get released from the airport, according to media reports.
The notice further stated that on June 7, at 4:40 pm, the second special flight of Qatar Airways returned with 112 Bangladeshis from New York. Among them were students studying at various colleges and universities in the US, university teachers pursuing higher degrees, participants in various training programmes, visitors, professionals, and businessmen. Earlier on May 15, the first special flight of Qatar Airways returned home from Washington with 242 Bangladeshis stranded in the US. Besides, on June 8, a team of Chinese experts came to Dhaka from China to aid in the fight against coronavirus.
The decision to place these people in institutional quarantine was not taken with equal consideration, which is a clear violation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution of Bangladesh, the notice says.
