BNP leaders on Saturday binned the rumour over its Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s death.
A vested quarter has spread the rumour in Bangladesh and beyond to create mayhem in the country, they alleged.
On Friday night, a rumour spread across Bangladesh that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is no more raising concerns from different quarters.
However, BNP leaders and Khaleda’s physicians confirmed that she is now stable and undergoing treatment at a cabin equipped with Coronary Care facilities at Evercare Hospital.
Life slowed down by information blackoutSources involved with Khaleda’s family told Dhaka Tribune that her health situation remains unchanged, but stable and the rumour was spread over to destabilize country’s situation.
Khaleda’s personal physician AZM Zahid Hossain, also a BNP vice-chairman, said: “Her condition neither improved nor deteriorated. There’s no reason to hide anything related to Madam’s condition.”
He urged all not to pay heed to rumours, and rather pray for her early recovery.
Another doctor of the BNP chief, wishing anonymity, said Khaleda underwent some blood tests Saturday and took homemade food.
Broadband internet restored in limited areas after blackoutMeanwhile, this topic has spread so fast that many citizens alleged the government is playing hide and seek over the issue, turning it into a hot topic even at tea stalls across the country.
“The government is not disclosing the real fact over her death and will release it only after the overall country’s situation gets normal,” a tea stall owner from Kallyanpur told this correspondent adding that he received the information from a relative living in Feni.
Didarul Alam from BNP chairperson’s press wing said BNP leaders and activists from abroad also faced similar rumor and informed this to the press wing for verification.
On July 8, the BNP chief was admitted to Evercare Hospital for her latest stay, just six days after being discharged from her previous stay of 11 days from June 21-July 2. She had a pacemaker installed on June 23.
After that she was receiving treatment at her residence Firoza in Gulshan, till being readmitted to Evercare on July 8.
Since her conditional release from prison in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving medical care repeatedly at the hospital under the supervision of a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof. Shahabuddin Talukder.
The former prime minister, aged 79, has long battled various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to the kidney, lung, heart, and eyes.
Khaleda's doctors have been advising to send her abroad for treatment since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021.
Last October, three specialist doctors from the US completed a hepatic procedure known as transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS procedure) to stop water accumulation in Khaleda’s stomach and chest, and bleeding in her liver.
