Khaleda Zia’s health still remains fragile
Abu Jakir :
The Nation is gripped by a wave of anxiety and prayer as former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia remains in the Coronary Care Unit of Evercare Hospital, where she has been fighting with critical illness since Thursday.
Across the country, mosques, homes, party offices and informal street gatherings have turned into spaces of collective supplication, with thousands offering dua and special prayers for the 80-year-old leader’s recovery.
Despite repeated instructions from the BNP not to crowd the hospital premises, party activists, well-wishers and curious onlookers continued gathering outside Evercare on Saturday.
“Our leader is ill, so we came here to know about her condition,” said Awlad Hossain, a BNP activist from Mirpur, who had been waiting for hours for an update.
Khaleda Zia, a three-time prime minister who has long suffered from cardiac, kidney, liver and pulmonary complications, was rushed to the hospital late Sunday after sudden respiratory distress.
Doctors later confirmed she had developed pneumonia that had sharply affected both her lungs and heart.
According to a BNP insider familiar with the medical briefings, Khaleda remains under round-the-clock observation as specialists monitor what they describe as “highly fragile” cardiac and respiratory functions. “Every relevant test is being run repeatedly.
Her situation is being assessed with utmost caution,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
On Saturday, the advisory council of the interim government held a special meeting where members prayed for Zia’s recovery.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin also expressed “deep concern” over the deterioration of her health, according to officials familiar with the meeting.
Throughout the day, leaders from several political parties visited Evercare Hospital. A delegation from the Nationalist Citizen’s Party (NCP) met Zia’s family in the morning.
Nasiruddin Patwary, the party’s chief organiser, later wrote on his verified Facebook page that although Khaleda Zia was in critical condition, she was “stable” and able to respond to doctors’ instructions.
Outside the hospital, a civic group named Moulik Bangla held a prayer session, while at the BNP’s central office in Nayapaltan, standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan led special prayers for the party chairperson.
Another BNP leader, Syed Moyazzem Hossain Alal, released a video urging the countrymen to pray “so that she may serve the nation for more years.”
Discussion over overseas treatment reignites
As concern mounted over her condition, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters in Gulshan that the party had already completed “all necessary preparations” to take Khaleda Zia abroad for advanced treatment – including air ambulance arrangements and communication with foreign authorities – but that her body was “not currently strong enough” to withstand the journey.
“If her condition stabilises, the option of taking her abroad will be reconsidered,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Mahdi Amin, an adviser to Tarique Rahman, stated that Zia’s family was preparing to take her to London for treatment if doctors permitted.
Khaleda Zia’s medical board includes specialists from Bangladesh, Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States, and the London Clinic, who held a two-and-a-half-hour consultation on Friday night.
According to BNP leaders, the board recommended overseas treatment, but her current stability remains too fragile for travel.
A specialised Chinese medical team has expressed interest in coming to Bangladesh to assist in the treatment of BNP chief former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, a member of her personal medical team said on Saturday.
He, preferring not to be named, said specialists from several friendly countries have already been monitoring the condition of Khaleda Zia, currently undergoing treatment at Dhaka’s Evercare Hospital.
Among them, a Chinese specialist team has shown willingness to travel to Dhaka to support her treatment, he added.
A long struggle with chronic disease
Khaleda Zia’s health has been precarious for years. She lives with advanced liver cirrhosis, heart blockages – including a pacemaker inserted in June 2024 – diabetes, arthritis, kidney dysfunction and recurring lung infections.
She previously required CCU care in 2021 after contracting Covid-19.In recent years, she has undergone several high-risk procedures, including a portosystemic shunt surgery performed by foreign specialists in 2024 to address her liver complications.
Her long medical decline is intertwined with her legal and political trajectory. Convicted in two corruption cases in 2018, Zia spent years between prison and hospital custody under the Awami League government.
She was eventually released on special executive orders to her Gulshan residence. In the political shift of August 2024, the interim president formally cleared her of all remaining sentences.
Allegations resurface amid political tension
As her condition worsened, an old and politically charged question resurfaced: was Khaleda Zia ever slow-poisoned during her incarceration?
BNP leaders have long alleged that the conditions of her detention contributed to her health collapse, though no independent investigation has substantiated the claim.
On Saturday, senior BNP figure Ruhul Kabir Rizvi reignited the allegation while speaking in Chattogram, accusing former prime minister Sheikh Hasina of “designing” a slow decline in Khaleda’s health – remarks that underline the depth of mistrust between Bangladesh’s major political forces.
Another BNP stalwart, Mirza Abbas, echoed similar suspicions at a photography exhibition in Dhaka.
He claimed that an Indian journalist once warned him that Khaleda’s health had been “designed” to deteriorate over time. Like previous iterations, these allegations remain unverifiable and firmly within the realm of political rhetoric.
A moment of national watchfulness
For now, Bangladesh waits. Outside the hospital gates, supporters continue to stand in silence, murmuring prayers as ambulances glide in and out.
Inside, doctors monitor a patient whose political influence has shaped decades of the country’s history – and whose medical fate remains uncertain.
“People across the country are praying for her recovery,” said a BNP activist outside Evercare. “This is not just politics. This is emotion.”