BNP MPs threaten to step down over Khaleda's treatment abroad  

BNP lawmakers have threatened to step down if their party leader Khaled Zia is not allowed to go abroad for advanced medical treatment.

The parliament members forming a human chain in the capital on Sunday also sought the intervention of President Abdul Hamid for the release of Khaleda Zia.

"Don't force us (BNP MPs) to leave the parliament. Our demand is just to ensure proper treatment for Khaleda Zia," Harunur Rashid, lawmaker of Chapai Nawabganj-3 constituency, said at the event in front of the National Press Club.

"If our demands are not met, we will consider whether we will remain in parliament or not," he stated. 

Khaleda has been suffering from critical cardiac and kidney problems, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ophthalmological and dental complications, and now is undergoing treatment at the Evercare Hospital in the capital.

"The government is slowly pushing Khaleda Zia to death," claimed another BNP-backed lawmaker Rumeen Farhana.

She said the government would have to take responsibility if anything bad happened to the leader. "Khaleda Zia would have got bail easily if there was rule of law in the country," she stated.

The member of parliament from a reserved seat further said the government can "release Khaleda Zia and allow to go abroad" under section 401 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

BNP lawmakers GM Siraj, Mosharraf Hossain, Aminul Islam and Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan also took part in the human chain programme. 

What do physicians say?

The health condition of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, now undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in the capital with multiple complications, is still critical but it is not true that she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, said her personal physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, reports UNB. 

He, however, said the BNP chief has been suffering from liver problems alongside kidney and cardiac ones. 

"Madam's condition is the same as before. There's no noticeable change in her condition. We neither can call it a slight improvement, nor stable. In a word, she is still in a critical condition," Zahid told UNB. 

He said physicians have kept her under intensive monitoring in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of the hospital. "Various parameters of her health are fluctuating and are taking the right measures accordingly." 

Zahid said the BNP chief is very weak physically and she has to spend most of her time lying in bed. "She's only allowed soft food." 

The doctor said it is now imperative for Khaleda to go to any advanced centre abroad for the proper treatment of her multidisciplinary diseases. "All the doctors, including those connected virtually from the USA and the UK, are worried about her condition as they think she needs to go abroad as soon as possible," the UNB reports said. 

Protest rally on Monday

Earlier on Saturday, the BNP announced a nationwide protest rally to be held on Monday, demanding that its "critically ill" chairperson Khaleda Zia be allowed to go abroad for advanced treatment.

Khaleda, a 76-year-old former prime minister, was readmitted to Evercare Hospital on 13 November, six days after she had returned home from the hospital.

On behalf of the family, Khaleda's younger brother, Shamim Iskander, submitted an application to the home ministry on 11 November urging the government to allow her to go abroad for better treatment.

5 allies submit a memorandum to home minister

Meanwhile, five allies from the BNP-led 20-party alliance submitted a memorandum to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Sunday, urging the government to allow Khaleda Zia to go abroad for treatment, regardless of any issue.

Bangladesh Kalyan Party Chairman Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, National Peoples Party Chairman Fariduzzaman Farhad, National Democratic Party Chairman MA Taher, Bangladesh Jatiya Dal Chairman Syed Ehsanul Huda and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shahadat Hossain Selim submitted the memorandum.

"The permission to Khaleda Zia to have treatment abroad would remain as the history of kindness and humanity," the memorandum said.