Khaleda headed to Sylhet ahead of verdict

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is on her way to Sylhet to pray at the shrines of Hazrat Shahjalal and Hazrat Shah Paran ahead of the verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

A motorcade with the BNP chief left her Gulshan home at 9:15am on Monday. Khaleda was seated in the front seat of the car. On long trips the front seat is usually occupied by her personal assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas. On this trip he is seated in the back.

Khaleda is accompanied by the members of the BNP Standing Committee and other senior leaders of the party on her first trip to Sylhet in five years.

No rallies have been organised for the trip and the group is scheduled to head back to Dhaka on Monday night.

“Khaleda Zia will pray at the shrines of the two great Sufi Sadhaks after reaching Sylhet this afternoon,” said BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury. “This trip is solely for this purpose.”

“Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is not going as part of her political campaign,” he said in response to a question. “One cannot campaign a year before the election. How can one campaign when there is no level playing field?”

Amir Khosru claims the ruling party and its associates have already begun campaigning.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad began their campaigns on Jan 31 and Feb 1 respectively with rallies after praying at the shrines.

Khaleda Zia’s last visit to Sylhet was ahead of the Tenth Parliamentary Elections on Oct 4, 2013. The BNP chief gave a speech at a rally organised by the 20 Party Alliance at Alia Madrasa. The BNP would later boycott the election.

Khaleda Zia faces up to life in prison if found guilty in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case. The verdict could restrict her participation in the coming elections.

She met with over 400 members of the BNP Executive Committee in Dhaka on Saturday over the issue. She told the party’s activist to have courage and respond in a united manner ‘to any danger’.

Party activists at the meeting said the BNP has to announce protests if the verdict goes against Khaleda. The party’s central leaders must be involved in the protests, they said.

The BNP chief met with members of the BNP Standing Committee on Saturday.

Though no official statement emerged from the meeting, BNP leaders said the possibility of legal action and protests were discussed in detail if the verdict went against Khaleda Zia.