'Personal Vengeance': BNP Links Khaleda Zia’s Death To Prison Terms Under Sheikh Hasina Rule

Exiled Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has found herself in harm's way once again after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party accused her of being responsible for the death of former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Years of imprisonment and denial medical care fatally damaged her health, the BNP alleged.

BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan made the accusation on Wednesday, while addressing a gathering at Manik Mia Avenue ahead of Khaleda Zia’s namaz-e-janaza.

“On February 8, 2018, Khaleda Zia walked into jail after being subjected to the personal vengeance of fascist Hasina. But she came out of prison seriously ill,” Khan was quoted as saying by local publication The Daily Star.

Khan alleged that Khaleda Zia’s drawn out incarceration, restrictions on travel, and refusal by authorities to allow her to seek treatment abroad further deteriorated her health in an irreversible way.

He highlighted that medical experts had flagged time and again that timely treatment abroad could have been a game-changer in her case.

"As a result, the uncompromising leader eventually succumbed to death. Fascist Hasina will never be free of responsibility for this death", Khan added.

The allegation comes at a time when Hasina is in a self-imposed exile in India, after her government was toppled last year.

Recalling the journey of Zia's rise to power, Khan said that she had formally joined the BNP on Jan. 3, 1982, after the assassination of her husband, former president Ziaur Rahman.

After enduring repeated imprisonment under successive regimes, including military ruler Hussein Muhammad Ershad, and later under Sheikh Hasina’s government, she fought through the downfalls and led BNP for 41 years.

Khan credited Zia for spearheading a nine-year movement against military rule and restoring parliamentary democracy through the 1991 elections, while adding that she played a decisive role in Bangladesh's struggle for a democratic regime.

"She was the first woman prime minister of Bangladesh and the second in the Muslim world," Khan emphasised.

In his address, Khan called the 17-year long prison sentence imposed on Zia politically motivated and based on fabricated charges.

"Yet she never compromised with authoritarian politics. This is why she became an enduring inspiration in the struggle against fascism," he said.

After suffering a prolonged illness, Khaleda Zia passed away on Dec. 30 at age 80. The three-time prime minister became a symbol for the country's pro-democracy movement.