Khaleda Zia to Return Home Tuesday Morning

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia is set to return to Dhaka at 10:30am on Tuesday after undergoing overseas treatment in London.

She will travel on a special air ambulance sent by the Emir of Qatar, BNP media cell member Shairul Kabir Khan confirmed on Sunday. The information was shared following consultations with Khaleda Zia’s personal physician and BNP Standing Committee Member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, as well as BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Khaleda Zia will be accompanied by her daughters-in-law Dr Zubaida Rahman and Sharmila Rahman, personal physician Dr Zahid Hossain, adviser Enamul Haque Chowdhury, APS Masudur Rahman, and two domestic aides, Fatima Begum and Rupa Haque.

The announcement of her return has sparked excitement among BNP leaders and supporters. The party and its affiliated bodies have made extensive preparations to welcome her. A series of meetings have already been held to finalise the reception plans, including a joint meeting chaired by Mirza Fakhrul with senior leaders of BNP's Dhaka city unit and other affiliated organisations on Sunday evening.

Khaleda Zia was imprisoned in 2018 in connection with a graft case and later placed under house arrest during the Covid-19 pandemic. Following the mass uprising and political shift on August 5 last year, President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered her release, and the court subsequently quashed the verdicts in two corruption cases against her.

She travelled to London on January 8 this year for advanced medical treatment. After 17 days at a clinic, she moved to the residence of her elder son, Tarique Rahman, on January 25. This year, after more than five years, Khaleda Zia celebrated Eid with her family.