Bangladesh Deploys Elite Security Force to Protect Former PM Khaleda Zia Amid Critical Health Condition

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been placed under specialized protection as her health condition remains critically unstable. The elite Special Security Force (SSF) has been assigned to safeguard the three-time Prime Minister during her hospitalization.

Currently, Khaleda Zia is receiving ventilator support at a private medical facility in Dhaka. A specialized medical team from the United Kingdom is being brought in to manage her treatment protocol. Her physician has indicated that she is showing responses to the ongoing medical interventions.

According to her medical team, the possibility of transferring her abroad for advanced treatment is under consideration, with the final decision pending recommendations from the medical board and assessment of her clinical stability.

India has extended an offer of assistance, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating, "India stands ready to extend all possible support, in whatever way we can."

Following the assassination of her husband, President Zia-ur Rahman, Khaleda Zia entered the political arena by joining the Bangladesh Nationalist Party which her husband had established.

Meanwhile, uncertainty persists regarding whether Muhammad Yunus's interim government will facilitate the return of Tarique Rahman, Khaleda Zia's son and acting chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Critics of the Yunus administration suggest that the interim government's perfunctory statements concerning Tarique Rahman's potential return during this critical period indicate reluctance on their part.

Bangladesh's Prothom Alo newspaper reported that Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain stated Tarique Rahman has not yet submitted an application for a "travel pass" to return to the country.

Hossain further mentioned that the foreign ministry lacks specific information regarding Rahman's return, which has been impeded by political factors.

Addressing his absence from the country, Rahman expressed, "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."