Photo : Collected
The BNP public rally demanding the unconditional release of its ailing Chairperson Khaleda Zia has begun in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office with the participation of thousands of leaders and activists of the party and its associate bodies.
The rally started in front of the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters at 3 pm on Saturday (29 June).
BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will address the program as the chief guest.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary general of the party said, "Activists and activists are coming from Dhaka city and the surrounding areas to demand the unconditional release of our mother, the leader of democracy Begum Khaled. It is 2pm. You see how people are coming despite the bad weather. I think this gathering will be the largest in memory."
On June 11, 2022, Khaleda Zia was diagnosed with three blockages in her heart, one of which was 95% blocked and was treated with stent placement at that time.
Khaleda, a former prime minister, aged 79, has long battled various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to the kidney, lung, heart, and eyes.
Since her conditional release from jail in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving treatment frequently at the hospital under a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.
Khaleda was sent to 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. That has since been extended multiple times to keep her out of jail.
Khaleda's doctors have been recommending sending her abroad since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021.
On October 26 last year, three US specialist doctors completed the hepatic procedure known as transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS procedure) to stop water accretion in Khaleda Zia's stomach and chest, and bleeding in her liver.
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