BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia returned home on Wednesday evening after receiving treatment at Evercare Hospital for 45 days.
“Madam (Khaleda) was discharged from the hospital in the evening as per the advice of the medical board,” said her media wing member Shamsuddin Didar, quoting her personal physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.
He said that the BNP chief left the hospital at 7pm and arrived home minutes after 8:15pm.
A process is underway to send ailing Khaleda Zia abroad for advanced medical treatment, said Didar.
Contacted, Dr Zahid said Khaleda was discharged from the hospital as her physical condition is now stable.
“She’ll be under close observation by doctors at her home,” he added.
A BNP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the process of sending Khaleda Zia to the UK for better treatment is underway. “Once she is fit for the long journey, she will be flown to the UK.”
Thousands of BNP leaders and workers, along with members of its associate bodies, surrounded Khaleda’s vehicle and escorted it to her residence in Gulshan.
After spending the past five years under house arrest, this is the first time the BNP chief has returned home as a free person, following a presidential pardon granted after the ouster of the autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina.
The 79-year-old leader has been battling various health complications, including arthritis, heart disease, and issues with her lungs, liver, kidneys, and diabetes. She has been receiving regular treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka.
Her family had appealed to the ousted Sheikh Hasina-led government for multiple times to allow her to seek treatment abroad, but the request was denied.
Subsequently, three specialist doctors were brought in from the United States, and she underwent surgery for liver cirrhosis on October 27.
After more than five months of treatment, she returned home on January 11, 2024, when her health showed some improvement.
Khaleda Zia was jailed on February 8, 2018, after being convicted in two corruption cases. She spent over two years in prison before the government, following an appeal from her family, suspended her sentence through an executive order on March 25, 2020, granting her conditional release. Since then, the government has extended her release period every six months. After a change of power, the interim government acquitted her of all charges.