Khaleda Zia may return home on Sunday if air ambulance available
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is expected to return to Bangladesh from London on Sunday or Monday, depending on the availability of a special air ambulance. Efforts are underway to arrange the air ambulance, and if successful, she will return on 4 May (Sunday). Otherwise, she may fly back on a scheduled Bangladesh Biman flight the following day.
Khaleda Zia’s private secretary, ABM Abdus Sattar, told Prothom Alo on Thursday night, “If an air ambulance is available, Madam (Khaleda Zia) will return on 4 May. However, one has not been arranged yet. We are still trying. If unsuccessful, she will return on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight.”
If the air ambulance cannot be arranged, the BNP Chairperson is expected to board a Biman flight from London at 11:00 am Bangladesh time on 5 May (Monday), accompanied by her two daughters-in-law.
Khaleda Zia left for London on 8 January for advanced medical treatment. At the time, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arranged a special aircraft from the royal fleet after learning of her critical condition. She was flown to London in that specially equipped air ambulance.
She was admitted to The London Clinic, where she received treatment for 17 days. On 25 January, she was discharged and moved to the London residence of her son, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, where she has continued receiving medical care.
The 79-year-old former Prime Minister has long suffered from multiple health complications, including liver cirrhosis, kidney disease, heart problems, diabetes, and arthritis.
Khaleda Zia was arrested in a corruption case in 2018 and spent more than two years in prison. Her family and party repeatedly appealed to the then Awami League government to allow her to seek treatment abroad, but the requests were denied.
She was finally released after the fall of the Awami League government in a student-led mass uprising on 5 August.
A presidential order secured her release, and courts subsequently overturned the verdicts in the corruption cases for which she had been imprisoned.