Is Khaleda ditching Independence Day events too?

After failing to pay respects to the Language Movement martyrs on Feb 21, it is not yet clear whether Khaleda Zia will turn up at the National Memorial on the Independence Day.

The BNP has not yet confirmed whether or not the party chief will go to the memorial at Savar on Thursday to pay homage to the freedom heroes.

The party's media statement on Independence Day celebrations also says nothing about her plans for the day.

There is no sign of any special police arrangement that is usual for the former prime minister.

Khaleda's message on the Independence Day actually talks about the “current abnormal situation” in Bangladesh.

Every year, Khaleda pays tribute at the National Memorial on the Independence Day and then does the same at her husband late president Ziaur Rahman's grave at Chandrima Udyan at the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

That would find mention in the BNP's media statement on Independence Day celebrations.

But since the beginning of this year, Khaleda has remained confined to her Gulshan office, from where she coordinates the party's relentless agitation that started on Jan 5.

She also received much flak for not paying tributes to the Language Movement martyrs on Feb 21 at the Central Shaheed Minar.

Khaleda has also not appeared for any of the court hearings for which she received summons.

A warrant of arrest has been served on her for repeatedly skipping court.

Khaleda's advisers and BNP lawyers apprehend the government may not allow her to re-enter her Gulshan office once she leaves it.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has questioned her continued presence in the Gulshan office.

Khaleda last appeared before the media at her office on Mar 13.

Leaders close to Khaleda have indicated that chances of her going out to pay tributes at the National Memorial or joining party events at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar are slim.

In her Independence Day message to the nation, Khaleda said that the day came at a time “when democracy has been banished from the country”.

“The citizens have lost their freedom, their right to vote,” she said in the message, appealing for people to join the struggle for 'restoration of democracy'.