BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today at a press conference said that the party's efforts regarding advanced treatment of chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia abroad is "ongoing".

"Efforts (the party's initiative) are on," he told reporters when asked about the party's decision to send the BNP chairperson abroad, who is suffering from heart, lungs, and kidney problems.

Fakhrul also said, "If there is any progress in this aspect, we will definitely let everyone know."

When asked about Khaleda Zia's condition, Fakhrul said, "She is feeling better."

"Every day, she (Khaleda Zia) has check-ups," said Fakhrul, adding, "The check-ups are performed by a team of physicians led by Dr AFM Siddique and AZM Zahid Hossain. From now on, the entire team will see her once a week."

On June 20, a meeting of the BNP's standing committee, chaired by the party's acting chairman Tarique Rahman, demanded that the government allow the BNP chairperson treatment overseas as soon as possible. The issue was also discussed at a standing committee meeting yesterday, with the chairperson's physical condition being highlighted.

Earlier, after 53 days of treatment at Bashundhara's Evercare Hospital, Khaleda Zia returned to her Gulshan home on June 19.

BNP will go on hunger strike on November 1 in protest to the verdict delivered against its chief Khaleda Zia in a corruption case.

It is part of the freshly-announced three-day action programmes from tomorrow to protest the court’s verdict.

They will also stage countrywide demonstration on October 30 and will form human chains on October 31. The hunger strike has been slated for November 1.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed announced the programmes at a press conference it the party’s Nayapaltan central office in Dhaka this evening.

The human chain will be formed in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka while the party will seek permission from the authority to observe its mass hunger strike programme at the Institute of Engineers’ Bangladesh according to the schedule, he said.

Why the programmes?

A special court in Dhaka today sentenced BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and three others including her political secretary Harris Chowdhury seven years’ rigorous imprisonment in Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

Khaleda and the other convicts were also fined Tk 10 lakh each, in default of which they will have to serve six more months in jail, according to the verdict which is the highest punishment under the existing law.

The court also ordered the authority concerned to attach the 42 kathas of land in favour of the state which was purchased under the name of the trust.

What allegations brought against Khaleda?

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lodged the Zia Charitable Trust graft case against Khaleda and three others with Tejgaon Police Station in August 2011. According to the case statement, the former prime minister and three others abused their power and raised funds for the trust from unknown sources.

Why Khaleda Zia is now in jail?

Khaleda Zia landed in jail on February after a special court sentenced her to five years' rigorous imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

Who are the other convicts?

Apart from Harris Chowdhury, the two others are convicts are: Ziaul Islam Munna, assistant private secretary (APS) to Harris, and Monirul Islam Khan, APS to former Dhaka City mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia started receiving physiotherapy for arthritis yesterday afternoon at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).

“Doctors decided to give her physiotherapy after collecting her medical history,” BSMMU Director General Brig Gen Abdullah Al Harun said.

“Right now, it is difficult to say exactly how long she will need to stay here for treatment,” he told The Daily Star.

At a media briefing held at BSMMU yesterday, Harun said that the full medical board, which was formed to examine Khaleda, would visit her this afternoon, adding that he said some members of the board have already examined her separately.

On Monday, the medical board said it would be around two weeks before they can start the main treatment as they needed to assess Khaleda's health condition first.

“Her main illness is pain in joints due to rheumatoid arthritis. She has uncontrolled diabetes and arthritis. It is necessary to bring those under control first,” Prof Abdul Jalil Chowdhury, doctor of internal medicine and head of the medical board, told the newspaper on Monday.

Khaleda was moved to BSMMU from Dhaka's old central jail on Saturday following a High Court order.

The former prime minister was sentenced to five years in jail on February 8 in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. She was sent to prison the same day.

On Thursday, the HC asked the authorities to set up a five-member medical board, headed by Prof Jalil and Associate Prof Badrunnesa Ahmed, a BSMMU physiatrist, for Khaleda's treatment.

Government doctors, who have treated the 73-year-old BNP chief since she was imprisoned, said that she had been suffering from problems in the knees along with other ailments for a long time. Her personal doctors, who met her in the prison, said she suffered a “mild stroke” on June 5.

The High Court today fixed tomorrow for delivering its order on a writ petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia seeking its directive on the government to send her to specialized United Hospital for treatment.

The bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil set the date after concluding the hearing on the petition.

During the hearing, Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Advocate AJ Mohammad Ali told the court that the government has formed the medical board with the doctors of Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad, a pro-Awami League doctors' forum, for the treatment of Khaleda Zia.

Khaleda Zia may not get fair treatment from this medical board, although getting fair treatment is her fundamental right, he said.

He prayed to the HC to direct the government to send Khaleda Zia to a specialized United Hospital as per her choice for treatment.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam opposed the writ petition, saying that the jail authorities have taken steps for providing necessary treatments to Khaleda Zia.

On September 9, Khaleda filed the writ petition on health grounds as she has been suffering from various illnesses. In her petition, she prayed to be admitted to a specialised hospital.

Meanwhile, a medical board formed by the government on September 13 recommended Khaleda to be admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).

The former prime minister was jailed on February 8 after a Dhaka court convicted and sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.