Zakir Hossain / Dhaka
Bangladesh’s ailing former Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia returned to Dhaka on Tuesday morning after four months of advanced medical treatment in London, intensifying calls for a return to democratic governance under the current interim leadership.
Zia, 78, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 10:30am on a special air ambulance reportedly arranged by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who also facilitated her travel to London in January. She was accompanied by her daughters-in-law, Zubaida Rahman and Syeda Sharmila Rahman Sithi.
Following her arrival, she was taken directly to her residence ‘Feroza’ in the capital’s Gulshan-2 area, reaching there at 1:25pm. Thousands of BNP supporters had gathered since early morning along the nearly 9-kilometer route from the airport to Gulshan, waving national and party flags, chanting slogans, and holding banners and festoons in a massive show of support. Security was tight throughout the route, particularly around Road No. 79 in Gulshan.
Zia, who suffers from several critical health conditions, was treated at The London Clinic, a private specialized hospital, under a medical board led by John Patrick Kennedy. Her elder son and BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman personally saw her off at the airport in London before her departure on Monday afternoon.
Her return comes at a politically sensitive time, as Bangladesh remains under an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. The transitional administration took over after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August last year. Zia’s BNP has been pressing the Yunus-led government to hold national elections in December to restore democratic rule.
While the interim government has promised to hold elections by December or June next year—depending on progress in institutional reforms—uncertainty and suspicion about its intentions have been growing.
Zia’s physical presence in the country, despite her frail health and confinement to a wheelchair, carries deep symbolic weight for the BNP, particularly as her longtime rival Sheikh Hasina now lives in exile in India. “This is a joyous moment for us and the nation. At this crucial time for democracy, her presence marks a significant day for the country,” BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters. “We believe that Khaleda Zia’s return will facilitate the path to democratic transition.”
Zia and Hasina have dominated Bangladesh’s political landscape for decades, alternating power since the country’s return to democracy in 1991 after the fall of military ruler H.M. Ershad. Zia served as Prime Minister three times, including two full five-year terms.
During Hasina’s 15-year rule, Zia was convicted and jailed for 17 years in two corruption cases. Her party has always claimed the charges were politically motivated—an allegation denied by Hasina’s government. Zia was later released on the condition that she would not leave the country, though she eventually did for medical reasons with government permission.
Khaleda Zia is the widow of former military chief-turned-president Ziaur Rahman (Bir Uttom), assassinated in 1981. Her political archrival Hasina is the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the nation to independence in 1971. As Zia returns, her party looks toward a renewed momentum for democratic elections—something many in Bangladesh and abroad are watching with keen interest.