The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party said on Friday that the ruling Awami League government would face dire consequences if BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was not freed from jail immediately.
Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir gave the warning at a rally arranged by the BNP demanding release of its chairperson in front of the party鈥檚 Naya Paltan central office in Dhaka.
Terming Khaleda Zia as the protector of democracy, Fakhrul said that democracy could not be imagined without her, but she had been wrongfully incarcerated for the last six years.
Castigating the Awami League-led government, Fakhrul said that it made agreements with India on unequal grounds, compromising the national interest.
鈥榃e want water, our rights, and the border killings to stop, but the government gave everything to India instead of resolving existing problems, and Bangladesh鈥檚 people get nothing,鈥� he said.
The corruption by former army chief general Aziz Ahmed, former police chief Benazir Ahmed and NBR officials came out, but the masterminds remained out of touch, he said.
Earlier in the day, the rally started about 2:40pm with a recitation from the Holy Quran. A huge number of leaders and activists of the party and its wing organisations joined the rally braving rain and hot and humid weather and chanting slogans demanding Khaleda鈥檚 release.
Fakhrul censured the AL government saying that it destroyed the political, financial, and educational systems while the banks were looted and the money was smuggled out.
Terming Khaleda symbol of democracy, he also called on all to become united to save her and democracy.
He urged the other political parties to raise their voices for Khaleda鈥檚 release and restore democracy.
鈥榃e say clearly that you should release her, otherwise, you must be prepared for any situation,鈥� Fakhrul warned the government.
The people of Bangladesh would never allow the life of a leader [Khaleda] to be lost being in prison like this,鈥� he said.
BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas, who presided over the rally, said that while all the thieves and cheats were released from jail, Khaleda was kept imprisoned.
鈥榃e want to make it clear that our leader must be released at any cost, and there will be no compromise with anyone in this regard,鈥� Abbas said.
鈥榃e started a movement for Begum Khaleda Zia鈥檚 release, and this movement will not stop,鈥� he vowed.
On June 26, the BNP announced a three-day programme demanding release of its chairperson who was now undergoing treatment at a Dhaka hospital.
Khaleda Zia was rushed to Evercare Hospital on June 22 after she had suddenly fell ill at her Gulshan residence.
A team of specialist doctors, led by Professor Shahabuddin Talukder, successfully implanted a pacemaker in her chest the following day. She is now receiving treatment in a cabin with CCU facilities at the hospital.
Khaleda, a former prime minister, aged 79, has long been battling with various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to the kidney, lungs, heart, and eyes.
Since her conditional release from jail in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving treatment frequently at the hospital under a medical board headed by cardiologist Professor Shahabuddin Talukder.
Khaleda was sent to Old Dhaka Jail after a lower court sentenced her to five years imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on
February 8, 2018. Later, she was convicted in another corruption case the same year.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country. That has since been extended multiple times to keep her out of jail.
Khaleda鈥檚 physicians had been recommending sending her abroad since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021.
