BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has reiterated that their party will not sit at the negotiation table with the government if their party chief is not released.
“Our number one priority is to ensure an unconditional release of our chairperson, Khaleda Zia. She will have to be released from jail first; then we will consider holding talks with the government,” he said, speaking at a discussion event at Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Friday.
The BNP second-in-command met with Khaleda in Old Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road the same day around 5pm, confirmed the party’s media wing staff, Sayrul Kabir Khan.
Fakhrul was scheduled to meet with Khaleda on March 29, but the meeting was postponed as jail authorities said she suddenly fell sick on that day.
On April 1, the government formed a medical team comprising four professors of Dhaka Medical College Hospital to examine her health condition and ensure her treatment in jail. However, Khaleda reportedly refused treatment by the doctors.
Asked about what they discussed during their meeting, Fakhrul said Khaleda had instructed her party people to continue their peaceful movement for “restoration of democracy."
"Our chairperson [Khaleda] is physically unwell but mentally strong. She has instructed us to continue our peaceful movement," he told reporters at the jail gate, after the meeting.
BNP has been continuing peaceful protests and demonstrations across the country since the 73-year old former prime minister was convicted and sentenced by a trial court on February 8, to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.Parts of this article were taken from banglatribune.com
Thursday, June 04, 2026
