Khaleda to go abroad for treatment soon: Fakhrul

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will soon be sent abroad for advanced medical treatment, party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today (16 August).

“On the occasion of Madam’s (Khaleda’s) birthday, I would like to give you good news that we have decided to send Madam abroad for treatment very soon if Allah blesses her,” Fakhrul addresses at a doa and milad mahfil arranged by BNP on the ground floor of its Naya Paltan central office, marking the 80th birthday of Khaleda Zia.

Fakhrul urged BNP leaders and supporters to pray for Khaleda’s swift recovery and safe return to Bangladesh after receiving treatment abroad.

The BNP leader said Khaleda is still receiving treatment at the hospital with serious ailments.

Although the BNP chief’s birthday was on Thursday, Fakhrul explained that they are observing it a day later, as she has long chosen not to celebrate it on 15 August, as a gesture of political courtesy and tolerance.

Fakhrul praised Khaleda Zia for her enduring commitment to democracy, highlighting her sacrifices and leadership during challenging times.

After the assassination of Ziaur Rahman, he said Khaleda took the leadership of the party amid a critical time as the autocratic ruler Ershad who usurped power tried to eliminate the party.

Just from a housewife, Fakhrul said she took to the streets and united people and established democracy by ousting the autocratic ruler in 1990.

He said Khaleda not only became the prime minister thrice, but also led the nation during all the crises of the country. “We must follow our leader who contributed immensely to the country and our party. She is so courageous that she still did not budge even an inch from her stance on democracy and people’s rights.”

Khaleda’s personal physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said she has been receiving treatment at Evercare Hospital for 46 days. “Her condition can be said to be somewhat stable for the last two days. We are now initiating the process to send her abroad.

BNP chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia turned 80 on Thursday.

As in the last eight years, the party had no programme to cut any cake to celebrate the birthday in the early hours of her birthday.

BNP has been marking her birthdays by holding doa mahfils instead of cutting any cake since 2016.

On 8 July, Khaleda Zia was admitted to Evercare Hospital in the capital six days after she had been discharged from the same hospital with various ailments.

A group of specialist doctors, led by Prof Shahabuddin Talukder, successfully installed the pacemaker in Khaleda Zia’s chest on 23 June.

Khaleda has long been battling various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to the kidney, lung, heart, and eyes.

The BNP chief’s doctors have been recommending sending her abroad since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021.

On 26 October last year, three US specialist doctors completed the hepatic procedure known as the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS procedure) to stop water accretion in Khaleda Zia’s stomach and chest, and bleeding in her liver.

She was placed in Old Dhaka Central Jail on 8 February 2018, after a special court sentenced her to five years in prison in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

On 30 October 2018, the High Court raised her punishment to 10 years. Later, she was convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail after 776 days through an executive order suspending her sentence on 25 March 2020, with conditions that she would stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country.

On 6 August, Khaleda Zia was completely freed by an order of President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

The president passed the order under Article 49 of the Bangladesh Constitution, according to a gazette issued by the home ministry on 6 August.

Article 49 states, “The president shall have power to grant pardons, reprieves, and respites and to remit, suspend, or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal, or other authority.”