report in Dhaka Tribune, Sept 23, 2023
Claiming BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s condition as critical, the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on
Friday again demanded that the 78-year-old Begum Zia be sent abroad immediately for better treatment.
“Today when she (Khaleda Zia) is in a life-threatening situation, she is being withheld. Begum Khaleda Zia is not only a
prisoner but also the number one leader of the country’s democratic movement. She served the country as prime minister thrice
and leader of the opposition twice,” Fakhrul said.
He came up with the remarks while addressing a rally organized on different issues including resignation of the government,
release of Khaleda Zia and one point demand in Dhaka’s Uttara area on Friday afternoon.
Dhaka north chapter unit BNP organized the rally on a field adjacent to AbdullahpurPolwel Super Market with the participation
of thousands of leaders and activists.
Fakhrul alleged that the ‘fascist’ government is pushing Khaleda Zia to death. However she keeps fighting against the
government from the prison.
Fearing Begum Zia’s condition, the BNP secretary general said the chairperson must be sent abroad for the treatment; her
condition may deteriorate soon.
Despite demands from her family, personal physicians and BNP, the government is not taking any step to send Khaleda Zia out of
the country for treatment, he said, “She should be sent to an advanced treatment centre for the sake of treatment on
humanitarian grounds.”
Fakhrul said there are examples of sending imprisoned people abroad for treatment, as Sheikh Hasina was sent to America for
treatment during the caretaker government.
Leaders from the party’s central body and north unit among others spoke at the rally.
The 78-year-old former prime minister has been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes,
kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.
Since her conditional release in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving treatment at Evercare hospital under a medical board
headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.
Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Jail after a lower court sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust
corruption case on February 8, 2018. Later, she was found guilty in another corruption case the same year.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her
sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/326063/fakhrul-to-govt-send-khaleda-zia-abroad-for
