Dhaka, June 29 (V7N) - The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has commenced a public rally demanding the unconditional release of its ailing Chairperson, Khaleda Zia. The rally is taking place in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office, with hundreds of leaders and activists of the party and its affiliate bodies in attendance.

The event formally began around 2:55 pm on Saturday with a recitation from the Holy Quran. BNP leaders and activists started gathering at Nayapaltan with processions carrying banners, festoons, placards, and portraits of the party’s top leaders from various parts of Dhaka since morning, braving inclement weather to join the rally.

Among the associate bodies, former Jubo Dal General Secretary Abdul Monayem Munna staged a showdown by joining the rally with a big procession.

BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is set to address the program as the chief guest.

Additional police forces have been deployed in Nayapaltan and surrounding areas to maintain law and order.

Earlier on Wednesday, BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam announced a three-day nationwide program demanding Khaleda Zia’s unconditional release. As part of these programs, the party is holding today’s rally in front of its Nayapaltan central office. Additionally, the BNP plans to hold rallies in all metropolitan cities on July 1 and in all district headquarters on July 3.

Khaleda Zia was rushed to Evercare Hospital in an ambulance at around 3:30 am on June 22 after suddenly falling ill at her Gulshan residence. A team of specialist doctors, led by Prof. 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.

On June 11, 2022, Khaleda Zia was diagnosed with three blockages in her heart, one of which was 95% blocked and was treated with stent placement at that time. Khaleda, a former prime minister aged 79, has long battled various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to the kidney, lung, heart, and eyes.

Since her conditional release from jail in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving frequent treatment at the hospital under a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof. 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. She was later found guilty 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. This arrangement has been extended multiple times, keeping her out of jail.

Khaleda’s doctors have recommended sending her abroad since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021. On October 26 last year, three US specialist doctors completed the hepatic procedure known as transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS procedure) to stop water accretion in her stomach and chest, and bleeding in her liver.

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