News Desk : dhakamirror.com
Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia left Dhaka for London for treatment Tuesday night.
She left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at about 11:45pm for the United Kingdom with air ambulance provided by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Khaleda would be taken at a London clinic directly from the Heathrow International Airport and she would be undergoing treatment in this hospital.
For the UK travel, the BNP chairperson had departed from her Gulshan residence for the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital Dhaka at about 8:00pm.
BNP leaders and activists gathered along both sides of the road at Gulshan and on the route to the airport to see her off.
Earlier, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir arrived at Khaleda’s Gulshan residence at about 6:15pm to see her off.
According to party sources, the air ambulance is expected to reach the Heathrow Airport in the UK at 10:00am today Bangladesh time.
BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, his wife Zubaida Rahman and senior BNP leaders from the UK will be there to welcome Khaleda Zia.
The party standing committee member, AZM Zahid Hossain, at a press briefing on Monday said that Khaleda would be admitted to the London Clinic in the United Kingdom for advanced treatment.
The special air ambulance, provided by the Emir of Qatar, carried aboard four doctors and paramedics from the Royal Qatar.
Additionally, six members of Khaleda Zia’s medical board from Dhaka accompanied her on the flight.
Khaleda was also accompanied by her late son Aarafat Rahman Koko’s wife Sharmila Rahman Shithi, BNP advisory council member Enamul Haque Chowdhury, BNP executive committee member Tabith Awal, Khaleda’s private secretary ABM Abdus Sattar and a few personal officials and employees.
Khaleda Zia, aged 79, has long been suffering from several health issues, including liver cirrhosis, heart disease and kidney problems.
The BNP had long demanded that Khaleda be permitted to seek medical treatment abroad, but the Awami League government had consistently rejected the request.
Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government through a mass uprising on August 5, 2024, all cases against Khaleda Zia were dismissed through an executive order, paving the way for her to travel abroad for treatment.
Khaleda Zia last travelled to London on July 16, 2017 for follow-up treatment. Upon her return, she was imprisoned in early 2018 in connection with several cases.
‘The patient, currently under treatment for multiple ailments, is being taken to the London Clinic, a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary centre, where doctors will evaluate his condition and decide the next course of action,’ Zahid said at Monday’s press briefing.
– Input from New Age was used in this article.