Dhaka: Bangladesh’s ailing former prime minister Khaleda Zia returned home from London on Tuesday after four months of medical treatment, with her party leaders expressing hope that her presence will facilitate the restoration of democracy in the country ruled by an interim government.
Zia, the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and three-time former premier, went to London on January 8 for advanced medical care and was admitted to The London Clinic. After being discharged, she moved to her eldest son Tarique Rahman’s residence, where she has been receiving treatment.
A Qatari royal air ambulance carrying the 79-year-old leader and her entourage from London landed at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, where Zia was greeted by senior BNP leaders.
Her two daughters-in-law – Tarique Rahman’s wife Zubaida Rahman and the late Arafat Rahman Coco’s wife Syeda Sharmila Rahman – accompanied her.
Zia smiled and waved from her wheelchair as thousands of supporters, many draped in Bangladesh and BNP flags and some carrying placards with welcome messages, lined the streets leading to her residence at Dhaka’s Gulshan area. BNP supporters began assembling along both sides of the nearly 10-kilometre route since early morning.
Zia has long suffered from liver cirrhosis, kidney disease, heart problems, diabetes, and arthritis.
Talking to reporters at the airport, BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expressed the hope that Zia’s return would facilitate the restoration and advancement of democracy in the country.
“This is a significant day for the country and the people of Bangladesh,” Fakhrul told reporters. He added that the joyous celebrations marking Zia’s return were not a mere expression of emotion but also a “demonstration of our strength”.
“She went abroad for treatment after years of suffering under fascist oppression. With the fall of fascism, she was finally able to receive proper medical care. After nearly four months of treatment, she is returning home today. It’s a matter of great joy for us and the people,” he said, referring to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina regime in August last year.
“In the current situation of the country, Zia’s presence and homecoming are a very important matter for people. We believe our leader’s presence and return will make it easier to restore democracy,” he said.
Supporters were instructed to stay on the pavements and avoid blocking roads. A large number of police, army, Rapid Action Battalion, Armed Police battalion and Ansar members were deployed on the road and near the airport area.
The BNP chairperson was lodged in the Old Dhaka Central Jail on February 8, 2018, after the Dhaka court sentenced her in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, the Hasina-led Awami League government temporarily released Zia from jail after 776 days through an executive order, suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with conditions that she would stay in her house and not leave the country.
On August 6 last year, after the ouster of the Hasina regime, Zia was freed by an order of President Mohammed Shahabuddin.
In March, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court upheld a High Court ruling that acquitted Zia in a corruption case in which she was sentenced to seven years in jail by a lower court.
Zia now stands acquitted in both the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust cases, in which she had previously been convicted and sentenced.
BNP is currently the major political party, and her return came as the party was mounting pressure on the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government to hold general elections in the quickest possible time.
The interim government prefers that its reform agenda be pursued first, while a recently floated student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) was making efforts to organise nationwide networks.
NCP leaders recently said polls under the existing “pro-BNP” bureaucracy were unlikely to be fair. They want reforms initiated by the government to be carried out first, while Yunus pledged reforms and said the poll could be delayed until June 2026. Yunus assumed the charge of the interim government after Hasina’s ouster.
Several political analysts said Zia’s physical presence in the country would have a huge symbolic value for her party, while Hasina is in exile in India.
Zia served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006.
Meanwhile, Tarique Rahman’s wife, Dr Zubaida, and their daughter Zaima Rahman have been living in London since 2008.
After 17 years in exile, Zubaida also returned home with her mother-in-law, intending to stay at her father’s residence in Dhanmondi.
Her father’s house, known as Mahbub Bhaban, located on Road 5 of Dhanmondi, has also been prepared to receive Zubaida, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
