Khaleda calls for continuing protests, in bad health condition: Fakhrul

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has asked her supporters to continue their ‘movement to restore democracy’, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir says.

Mirza Fakhrul, along with Standing Committee members Mirza Abbas and Nazrul Islam Khan, met their chief in the old jailhouse on Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon.

Emerging from the jail after an hour-long meeting, Fakhrul told the media that their concerns over her health grew after seeing her. 

“Her health is in a really bad condition,” the BNP leader said.

Mirza Fakhrul said Khaleda told them that she was feeling her left arm stiff and heavy.

“The pain has spread to her left leg through the left side of her back. It has made her movement very difficult. She is suffering from arthritis,” Mirza Fakhrul said.

“This can create neurological problems. Doctors said it will get stiff and may cause paralysis.

“Not only this, her right eye has become red. It may cause permanent damage if not treated immediately,” he added.    

The BNP secretary general said the former prime minister urged the people to pray for her recovery and also for an ‘end to the situation Bangladesh is experiencing now’.

“She asked the leaders and activists to continue the movement with courage for the restoration of the democracy,” he said.

The BNP leader reiterated the demand for shifting Khaleda to the United Hospital, claiming that the medications prescribed by the board of doctors formed by the jail authorities to treat her were not working.  

“And she needs a change in the environment too. Healthy people can get sick in the environment she is now,” he said.

“It’s the government’s duty, and the government will have to bear the responsibilities if she suffers from any permanent health damage,” he added.

The three arrived at the prison, where the BNP chief is the sole inmate, at 3:30pm on Saturday.

An official opened the gates for them after they waited for 20 minutes. They came out just after 5pm.

The three leaders previously went to visit Khaleda on Apr 19, but the prison authorities kept them waiting for 15 minutes before telling them that they could not meet Khaldea.

The BNP has demanded that their party chief must be transferred to United Hospital for treatment and have met Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal over the incident.

Fakhrul had repeated the demand in a press conference held at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters before the visit. He had warned the government that they would be held responsible for any deterioration in Khaleda’s health.

Mirza Fakhrul had previously met Khaleda alone on Feb 8. The next day she was taken to BSMMU for an X-ray.

BNP leaders have said two of Khaleda’s doctors visited her in prison on Wednesday.

The 73-year-old is suffering from problems in her heart, eyes and knee, her doctors earlier said.

The government says it is following the recommendations of a medical board formed to oversee her health condition.