Law will decided whether Khaleda Zia can travel abroad for treatment–Sheikh Hasina

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Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia's application to travel abroad for treatment is a ''legal matter''. Zia’s family has been pressing the government to allow her to be taken abroad for treatment.</p>
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At a press briefing Hasina said that she had done her bit by releasing her from the jail and allowing the BNP leader home care.</p>
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''I have done my part (by suspending Zia’s prison sentences) and the rest now is a legal matter,” Hasina said at the briefing.</p>
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Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/demand-khaledas-treatment-abroad-bnp-observe-hunger-strike-nov-20-2233106">the Daily Star</a> reported that BNP members have threatened to start a mass hunger strike this Saturday, demanding that the party chief be given permission to go abroad for better treatment.</p>
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<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/khaleda-zia-to-stay-out-of-jail-for-another-six-months-114214.html">Khaleda Zia to stay out of jail for another six months</a></strong></p>
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The 76-year-old BNP leader is serving a 17-year jail term in two graft cases since February 2018. According to Zia’s doctors, the leader is suffering from chronic kidney and "decompensated liver" diseases. In April she also contracted Covid 19 virus.</p>
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The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case in July, 2008 against the former Prime Minister, her son and BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman among others accusing them of misappropriating Tk2.1 crore. Thereafter, in February 2018, a special court convicted Zia and sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the case.</p>
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Earlier, a report by the Observer Research Foundation noted that during Zia’s premiership, Bangladesh and Pakistan had joined hands to subvert India’s interests. “Apart from providing support to Indian insurgent groups in the Northeast, several Islamic extremist groups came into prominence, with the support of the Tarique clique and Pakistan. Tarique wanted to use these extremists to target the Awami League leadership and workers, while Pakistan wanted to use them against India.”</p>