Khaleda’s treatment a drama staged by the government, says BNP

The BNP has alleged that party chief Khaleda Zia’s visit to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) for medical tests is nothing but a ‘drama’ staged by the government.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi says the "BNP chairperson was harassed in the name of medical care".

“The government staged this drama to give her mental and physical distress … to agitate her.”

The former prime minister, who is serving a five-year sentence over the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, was taken to BSMMU from the prison on Saturday. The BNP chief has been in prison for two months since Feb 8 when the verdict was pronounced.

Rizvi spoke at a press conference at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters a few hours after Khaleda Zia completed her tests at BSMU and returned to prison.

“The leader of the country was not given medical treatment today. She was simply harassed,” Rizvi told journalists.

The BNP has called for Khaleda’s proper treatment and said her personal doctors to be allowed to look after her health condition and treatment.

The hospital authorities, however, said that doctors she selected for the examinations examined her.

BSMMU Director Brig Gen Abdullah-Al-Harun had highlighted the way Khaleda Zia had walked from the car to the elevator and said that she ‘seemed well’.

Rizvi claimed Khaleda had been ‘forced’ to go to the hospital.

“It is clear that she was largely forced to go. We hear that they repeatedly entered her prison cell and prompted her to hurry.”

“If anything happens to her due to lack of proper care, the government will have to bear the responsibility,” Rizvi warned the ruling party.

Rizvi also condemned the police attack on BNP activists who gathered to greet Khaleda Zia and the arrest of 13 members of the party.