The GK testing kit drama continues hogging headlines as expected. After a month of only health news, politics has returned to the main page. The entire test kit issue has already moved from the medical to the political space. This is probably possible because people find social service at par with party politics.

The Government was never enthusiastic about Dr. Zafarullah Chowdhury's (Dr Zed) testing kit development and Gonoshasthya Kendra was not diplomatic at all about the way such a matter is handled. But the perception of many about the kit was probably decided long back when the GK leader backed a party which is the sworn enemy of the ruling party. Thus either you are in favour of the kit or against the kit means you are either pro-AL or pro-BNP. Scientific or reasoned positioning has no space. Never has a testing kit created so much politics anywhere in the world.

In Bangladesh, only political identities matter, rest are put to death. And politics means the party. AL sees Dr. Zed as a BNP activist and other issues matter less. Dr. Zed thinks if scientific questions are raised and WHO protocols suggested they are bureaucratic and powered by politics. The battle goes on.

Dr Zed's Past

Dr Zed has a long political activist background going back to his medical college days pre-1971. During the war he was associated with the field hospital at Bisramganj and also worked as a fundraiser in London. He was close to Sector 2 Commander Khaled Mosharraf and became a legend of sorts even in those days.

In the newly emerge state, he was noted for contesting the medical establishment and later on the health system in general. He was close to the fellow war veterans of Sector 2 including Shahadat Chowdhury, editor of the iconic weekly magazine Bichitra. That office became his haunt and the ex-Left media professionals of Bicihtra such as late Mahfuzullah, late Sazzad Qadir and Shahriar Kabir among others became his public image producer. He was a man with a mission and had many believers.

Dr. Zed took on many holy cows and his words found a ready audience. He was the first doctor who had become a public figure, a spokesperson for the socio-economic left outs. By that time he had begun to build the GK centre in Saavar providing healthcare to the underprivileged and the rural people.

He received a big blow with the 1975 coup and FF politics began in earnest after that date. When his comrades including Khaled Musharraf and others were killed, it was heard that Dr. Zed went and collected their bodies from inside the Cantonment when few dared. His integrity was never in doubt.

The rise of the GK brand

This was followed by GK Pharma, National Drug Policy of 1982 and other initiatives which hurt the medical and pharma establishment much. On the way he picked up many powerful enemies and not so powerful friends. He founded health magazines, formed groups and ultimately the Nagar Hospital, providing affordable care to the chronically ill including dialysis treatment. The list of great things he has done is endless and few in Bangladesh can claim to have achieved as much as he has.

But he had a failing which was his abiding interest in politics. He was keen to be a public personality and ultimately became a fellow traveler of the opposition to the AL, which was theBNP. And that in the end is what has become his main identity though his work is elsewhere. And as the bard says, "Therein lies the rub".

Dr. Zed's political life

Dr. Zed's achievements in politics are not high as he is primarily a health service icon. In fact BNP has benefitted most from his company and there are no faces in the BNP which draws as much respect as he does. When he speaks, people listen to him but not for their political worth. Its his personal history and achievement. He may have entered politics from a sense of duty but he has been a victim of that. His faux pas with the army chief on TV shows how things can happen without his control. He has become a political person when by all counts he is the greatest public health personality of the region. This contradiction of his work keeps him busy facing hurdles to his work.

By becoming a politician, he put his public health work at risk and the tussle over the testing kit is the best example. Once a political robe is worn in Bangladesh, the rest disappears and having lived here, Dr. Zed should have known that.

Some BNP leaders have claimed that the kit is their achievement which shows exactly why the obstacles on his path will remain. His aim in life should have been public health not politics. There is no point saying the Government is treating him wrong because to them he is a politician and this is how they are treated. It holds true for all the parties.

His response to the scientific questions raised by the authorities about the kit and its accuracy was responded with polemical answers and accusations by Dr. Zed. The response should have been scientific but Dr. Zed is now deeply affected. But many kits do exist now and their accuracy is a global controversy. But science has been left behind and politics has taken over in Bangladesh.

Even after all this, one hopes that proper tests of the GK kit will be conducted and if found fit released for use. Bangladesh can no longer afford politics in this issue of life and death.