A total of 582 citizens on Thursday urged the government to allow former prime minister and main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia to undergo treatment abroad.
In a joint statement, they also demanded the release of Khaleda Zia on permanent bail saying that she was seriously ill and in a critical condition.
The statement sent by journalist Quader Gani Chowdhury said that the BNP top leader had been under close observation by physicians at a hospital in the capital since August 9.
The statement also said that it was necessary to take her abroad for better treatment.
Urging the government not to do any politics with the issue, the statement said that the overseas treatment should be given priority on humanitarian grounds.
Khaleda Zia is now 78 years old.
At this old age, she is still a prisoner through a prescribed verdict, the statement said, adding that she is now staying at her residence on conditional release with special permission from the government.
The statement also said that Khaleda had been suffering from heart, liver, kidney and eye problems and her physical condition was very vulnerable due to arthritis and the post covid-19 complications.
The signatories of the statement included professor Anwarullah Chowdhury, professor A F M Yusuf Haider, lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali, journalist Alamgir Mohiuddin, lawyer Joynul Abedin, journalist Ruhul Amin Gazi, professor AZM Zahid Hossain, professor Siraj Uddin Ahmed, professor Farhad Halim Donar, professor Tajmeri S A Islam, professor Abdul Latif Masum, professor Mosharraf Hossain Mia, journalist Rezwan Hossain Siddiqui, Abdul Aziz, professor Gazi Abdul Haque, journalist MA Aziz, poet and journalist Abdul Hai Shikdar, journalists Kamal Uddin Sabuj and M Abdullah.
