Bangladesh’s former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia, who has battling various ailments, made her first public appearance in six years on Thursday, following her release from house arrest after the departure of her long-time adversary Sheikh Hasina.
The intense political conflict between these two former prime ministers has been a defining feature of the nation’s politics for decades, AFP news agency reported.
Zia, who was imprisoned in 2018 on corruption charges, gained freedom in August when Hasina sought refuge in India amidst a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year authoritarian governance.
Her attendance at the Armed Forces Day reception on Thursday marked her first public engagement since her conviction.
At the event, Nobel laureate Muhummad Yunus, who leads the interim government tasked with democratic restoration, welcomed her warmly. The two were seen engaged in cordial conversation.
“We are particularly lucky and honored today that Begum Khaleda Zia… has graced us with her presence,” Yunus said. “We are all delighted that she joined us today.”
The 79-year-old Zia, who uses a wheelchair due to rheumatoid arthritis, also battles diabetes and liver cirrhosis. Since her release, she had remained private, only appearing briefly in a video message from hospital.
Her party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), confirmed that over 25 of its leaders attended the event.
According to Prothom Alo newspaper, party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir became emotional upon seeing Zia at the function.
During the pandemic, Zia served most of her sentence under house arrest after being moved from prison, but authorities rejected multiple requests for overseas medical treatment.
At a Wednesday rally in Feni, Alamgir stated that Zia was “very ill, having been kept in jail on false charges in a small, damp cell”.
In October, Bangladeshi media reported that Zia might soon travel abroad for medical treatment, though no specific date was mentioned.