Professor AZM Zahid Hossain, personal physician of BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, on Tuesday recalled her deep sense of motherly affection towards those around her.
He shared his memories while speaking to journalists at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
“Those of us who had the opportunity to work closely with Begum Khaleda Zia saw two sides of her,” Dr Zahid said. “On the one hand, she was truly a guardian figure, and on the other, she cared for us with deep motherly affection.”
He said no one could leave her residence without eating. “She would always ask whether the doctors had eaten, whether those working with her had been served food,” he recalled.
Dr Zahid, also a BNP Standing Committee member, said Khaleda was attentive even to small details. “If a doctor arrived a little late, she would ask why it took so long. She would say, ‘I have been waiting.’ When she was at home, specialist doctors visited her every day, and she spoke to everyone.”
He urged the country’s people to pray to Almighty Allah to grant her Jannah. “May Allah give the leaders and activists of BNP the strength to bear this loss, and grant BNP Acting Chairman the strength to carry out his responsibilities amid this grief.”
Asked when he last spoke to Khaleda Zia, Dr Zahid said dialysis began on December 1 and she was later placed on elective ventilation. “Even after that, there were times when we spoke to her. When we visited, she tried to respond and answer our questions.”
He said doctors always acted according to her physical condition. “As physicians, we never do anything that could worsen a patient’s condition. At this moment, given my mental state, it is difficult for me to specify exactly when our last conversation took place.”
Dr Zahid noted that whenever they visited her, she was responsive. “If she was asked something, she always tried to reply.”
Khaleda Zia passed away at around 6:00am on Tuesday at Evercare Hospital, where she had been undergoing treatment for more than a month.
Following her death, the BNP announced a seven-day mourning programme, during which party flags will be kept at half-mast and black flags will be hoisted at all offices of the party.
Khaleda will be laid to rest beside her husband and late President Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital, following her namaz-e-janaza at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Wednesday afternoon.