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Published : 15 Aug 2025, 02:51 PM
BNP leader Mirza Abbas has called for justice for those he claims were responsible for subjecting Khaleda Zia to extreme mistreatment during her time in prison.
Speaking at a prayer gathering at the party’s central office in Dhaka's Naya Paltan on Friday, Abbas alleged that the former prime minister was kept in a rooftop cell of the abandoned central jail where rats and insects ran rampant.
“Khaleda Zia was subjected to extreme torture in prison. Some deputy jailers and jailers had wrongfully kept her in a room on the rooftop," he said.
“I believe that the torture inflicted on Khaleda Zia during her imprisonment, and those responsible for it, should be brought to justice,” he added.
Praising Khaleda’s leadership during the BNP’s “dark days”, Abbas said: “Those of us who have worked with her have seen how strong the leader is under pressure. Her uncompromising leadership on the issue of democracy and her love and affection for leaders and workers are unparalleled.”
On Feb 8, 2008, Khaleda was sentenced to prison in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
She fell ill while being held in the old Central Jail in a damp environment without medical treatment.
Although specialist doctors recommended sending her abroad for better care, the then Sheikh Hasina-led government repeatedly rejected her family’s requests.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, the government suspended her sentence for six months and conditionally released her on Mar 25, 2020.
At the time, she was staying in her residence in Gulshan, known as “Feroza”.
Khaleda was born on Aug 15, 1945, according to the BNP's website.
She is the youngest of four sisters and two brothers.
Her father, Iskandar Majumder, and mother, Tayeba Majumder, raised their family in Dinajpur, though their ancestral home is in Feni's Fulgazi.
A housewife before entering politics, she stepped into public life after her husband, former president Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated on May 30, 1981.
She was first elected the party’s vice chairperson and later became chairperson in 1984.
Khaleda served three terms as prime minister from 1991 to 1996, briefly from Feb 15, 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006.
The BNP organised Friday’s prayer service at its Naya Paltan headquarters to mark Khaleda’s 81st birthday.
Similar events were held in mosques, orphanages and madrasas in Dhaka to pray for her recovery, according Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the party’s senior joint secretary general.
In addition to Dhaka, the milad was held at metropolitan, district and Upazila levels across the country, Rizvi said.
