Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been given special security as she remains very critical. Bangladesh's elite Special Security Force (SSF) protection has been allotted to the ailing leader who is the three-time Prime Minister of the country.
The former Prime Minister is on ventilator support at a private hospital in Dhaka. A team of specialists from the United Kingdom is being flown in to oversee her treatment. Begum Khaleda Zia's doctor has said that she is responding to treatment.
The doctor said taking her abroad for treatment is being considered and a final call will be taken depending on the medical board's recommendations and her clinical condition.
India has also offered help, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, "India stands ready to extend all possible support, in whatever way we can.'
Begum Khaleda Zia's husband, President Zia-ur Rahman, was assassinated and after his death, she joined politics by becoming a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party he founded.
There is, meanwhile, still no clarity on whether the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus will facilitate the return of Khaleda Zia's son and acting chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Tarique Rahman.
The interim government has only made perfunctory statements about Tarique Rahman's return at this critical juncture, which seems to indicate that they are not keen, say critics of the Yunus government.
"Foreign adviser Md Touhid Hossain has said that BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman has not yet applied for a "travel pass" to return to the country," Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo reported.
Hossain has added that the foreign ministry has no specific information regarding Tarique Rahman's return, which has been held up for political reasons.
Rahman has explained his absence from the country saying, "In this critical time, I, like any child, have an intense desire to receive my mother's affectionate touch. However, like everyone else, the ability to realise this is neither unreservedly under my sole decision-making authority nor my exclusive control. The scope for elaborating on this sensitive matter is also limited."
