Bangladesh: Yunus reassures full support during visit to critically ill Khaleda Zia

Bangladesh’s chief adviser Muhammad Yunus paid a visit on Wednesday to former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia, who remains in critical care at a private hospital in Dhaka. Zia, who was admitted on 23 November with multiple health complications, has spent the past 11 days in the critical care unit of the Evercare Hospital.

According to a statement released by Yunus’ office, the chief adviser spent nearly half an hour at the facility, where he met members of Zia’s family and party leaders. He urged them to remain patient while her medical team continues treatment.

The head of the specialist board overseeing Zia’s care briefed Yunus on her condition, noting that experts from two major US hospitals, as well as physicians from Britain, China and other countries, were now involved in her treatment. The statement added that Yunus assured “all sorts of government support” for the BNP leader.

His visit followed those of Bangladesh’s three armed forces chiefs, General Waker uz Zaman, Admiral M Nazmul Hassan and Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood, who called on Zia the previous day.

No substantial update has been issued by her doctors or family since Tuesday, when BNP Standing Committee Member and personal physician AZM Zahid Hossain said she was “responding to treatment”. Reports from Dhaka indicate that China’s President Xi Jinping dispatched a second team of medical specialists shortly after the arrival of four British doctors, reflecting the widening international involvement in her care.

Expressions of concern have also come from regional leaders. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply concerned” about Zia’s health and offered “all possible support”. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif sent a letter wishing her a swift recovery.

Zia, a three-time prime minister and one of Bangladesh’s most prominent political figures, is being accompanied at the hospital by several family members, including her younger brother Shamim Iskandar and his wife, and Sharmila Rahman, the widow of Zia’s late younger son.

Her elder son, Tarique Rahman, the BNP’s acting chairman who has lived in London since 2008, is monitoring her treatment from abroad. In a social media post at the weekend, he wrote of his desire to be by his mother’s side but hinted at limitations preventing his return.

Rahman, once convicted in several graft and criminal cases, saw those charges withdrawn or overturned under the current interim administration, and officials have said there is no legal barrier to his return.

Foreign adviser Touhid Hossain added that the government would issue travel documents immediately if required, though no request has yet been made to the Bangladesh embassy in London.

As Zia’s condition continues to draw political, diplomatic and public attention, the government has reiterated that all necessary support will remain available during her treatment.

With PTI inputs