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 formally began around 2:42 pm on Saturday (June 29, 2024) with the recitation from the holy Quran. BNP leaders and activists have started gathering before the party’s Nayapaltan central office with processions carrying banners, festoons, placards, and portraits of the party’s top leaders from different parts of Dhaka since morning braving bad weather to join the rally. Among the associate bodies, former Jubo Dal General Secretary Abdul Monayem Munna staged a showdown by joining the rally with a big procession. BNP activists gather at Nayapaltan to join rally demanding Khaleda’s unconditional release BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will address the program as the chief guest. Additional police have been deployed in Nayapaltan and its surrounding areas to maintain law and order. Earlier on Wednesday, BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam announced a three-day countrywide program demanding the unconditional release of Khaleda Zia, who is currently undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in the capital. As part of the programs, the party is holding the rally in front of its Nayapaltan central office today. Besides, the BNP leader said their party will hold rallies in all metropolitan cities on July 1 and in all district headquarters on July 3. BNP, allies to launch simultaneous movement against govt soon: Fakhrul Khaleda Zia was rushed to Evercare Hospital in an ambulance at around 3:30 am on June 22 after suddenly falling ill at her Gulshan residence. A team of specialist doctors, led by Prof Shahabuddin Talukder, successfully implanted a pacemaker in her chest the following day. She is now receiving treatment in a cabin with CCU facilities at the hospital. 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. BNP announces 3-day programme for Khaleda Zia's unconditional release 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.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday renewed their party’s demand for the unconditional release of Khaleda Zia for the sake of democracy. Speaking at a doa mahfil at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, he also said Khaleda Zia and democracy are inseparably linked. "She struggled to restore democracy throughout her life. She has now been kept under house arrest by the fascist Awami League government due to her efforts to restore democracy. So, our first condition is that she be released unconditionally,” the BNP leader said. He said Khaleda is not an ordinary leader as she has become an institution with her continuous struggle for democracy, emancipation and the wellbeing of people by sacrificing the happiness of her earthly life. Fakhrul wised Khaleda a long life on the occasion of her birthday. “We pray to Allah for her recovery so that can return to us lead us in the days to come." As part of BNP’s countrywide programme, its Dhaka north and south city units organised the doa mahfil, marking the 77th birthday of Khaleda. According to BNP’s website, Khaleda Zia was born to Iskandar Majumder and Taiyaba Majumder on August 15, 1945, in Dinajpur district. Fakhrul accused the Awami League government of 'usurping' power illegally, he said it has destroyed all the hopes and aspirations of the people of Bangladesh by resorting to repressive acts like Pakistani occupation forces. Read:Corruption, plundering, suicidal deals behind energy crisis: BNP "They have continued their fascist rule for 15 long years using the state machinery and unleashing a reign of terror through oppression,” he observed. The BNP leader said Khaleda Zia was convicted in ‘false’ and ‘baseless’ cases while false cases were filed against 35 lakh people. “Our more than 600 leaders and workers have been subjected to enforced disappearance and over 1,000 other leaders and workers have been killed.” He also said Chhatra Dal leader Noor-e-Alam and Swechchasebak Dal leader Abdur Rahim have recently been killed in police firing in Bhola. “Our leader and activists are being arrested and implicated in false cases every day.” Referring to a recent report of Netra News on the horrific experiences of the enforced disappearance victims, Fakhrul said Amnesty International has strongly denounced the human rights violations by issuing a statement and urged the visiting UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet to take steps for an independent and impartial inquiry into these 'barbaric' practices. "There is no reason to take the matter lightly. Many of our brothers were made disappeared and we did not get many of them back. Our over 600 leaders and activists have been made disappeared and tortured. From this programme, we demand that an impartial committee of the UN be formed to look into the matter and take action against those responsible," he said. The BNP leader said the current government has lost ground under its feet as the country’s people are not with them. “But we know this regime won’t t go easily. That is why we want to mobilise people and all the political forces to remove this government."