Khaleda Zia is ill, Saturday’s rally of Muktijoddha Dal postponed

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s freedom fighters’ rally, scheduled for Saturday in Dhaka, has been suspended due to the illness of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Her plans to travel abroad for medical treatment have also been postponed.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the announcement at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Office in Dhaka’s Gulshan on Thursday.

He said, "Madam [Khaleda] fell ill last night. That is why Saturday’s freedom fighters’ rally has been postponed at the advice of the doctors."

The rally, organised by the Nationalist Freedom Fighters Dal, was scheduled to be held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, or BICC, in the capital’s Agargaon on that day.

Khaleda’s personal physician Prof AZM Zahid Hossain said: “She is being treated at her Gulshan home under the supervision of doctors. Her overseas travel has also been deferred due to the illness."

On Oct 29, it was reported that the BNP was set to travel abroad for treatment after being released from charges tied to a corruption case.

She was supposed to visit her son Tarique Rahman in London earlier this month and be conveyed there in a specialised air ambulance.

She was to then be transferred to a 'multidisciplinary medical centre' in a third country, according to Zahid.

Khaleda was also supposed to perform Umrah in Saudi Arabia.