Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has called upon the countrymen to stay alert and remain united to continue the ongoing movement for restoration of the country’s democracy, party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today.
“Madam is quite ill but morally strong now. She asked us to stay alert and remain united to continue our movement for restoration of the country’s democracy,” Fakhrul told reporters after meeting her at the Old Central Jail in Dhaka this afternoon.
Fakhrul met the party chairperson at the jail on Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka around 4:05pm and shared the party’s present stance in ensuring her immediate release from the captivity.
The former prime minister is now serving a five-year rigorous imprisonment following a Dhaka court’s verdict on February 8 in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.
Last night, BNP senior leaders held a meeting at Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office in the capital to discuss several contemporary political issues including the party’s next course of action to free her from the jail, according to a party insider.
Several issues including the party’s 40th founding anniversary, formation of a greater political alliance ahead of the upcoming general elections, and the party’s strategy in participating in the polls were discussed in the meeting, the source said.
Responding to a query in this regard, Fakhrul said, “I did not discuss any political and organisational issues with Khaleda Zia.”
When asked about Khaleda’s health condition, Fakhrul said, “It is the same as I have seen before, not better than that. She is now suffering from acute pain in her body.”
The former prime minister sought blessings from the countrymen to overcome the situation, the BNP leader said.