Khaleda Zia’s comeback trail: From hospital bed to hero’s welcome

At the beginning of last year, ailing BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia lay in a hospital bed, contemplating the impact of yet another five-year term under the Hasina-led Awami League government.

Under Hasina's 15-year rule, the former prime minister was jailed in February 2017 in a corruption case. Then, as the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, she was placed under house arrest in March that year. With her health steadily declining, she was hospitalised multiple times. On each occasion, her family appealed to the government to allow her to travel abroad for better treatment.

For four years, the answer was consistently "no." The most recent rejection came on March 21, 2024, when then law minister Anisul Huq said Khaleda's jail sentence would be extended by six more months, with the conditions that she could not leave the country and must continue treatment in Bangladesh.

It seemed unthinkable at the time that this would be the final extension of her sentence — and that just over a year later, she would return from treatment abroad to a hero's welcome, with thousands lining the streets of Dhaka.

After years of confinement and health scares, her story over the past year reads like a slow-burning political comeback — marked by medical crises, courtroom vindication, and a cautious re-entry into public life.

Dhaka Stream compiles a timeline of Khaleda's resurgence:

October 26, 2023 — Johns Hopkins doctors perform procedure
Two doctors from Johns Hopkins University Clinics performed a TIPS (Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt) procedure on Khaleda Zia at Dhaka's Evercare Hospital to manage complications from liver cirrhosis, including fluid accumulation and internal bleeding.

January 12, 2024 — Returns home after five months in hospital
After five months of treatment, Khaleda was discharged from Evercare Hospital.
"Khaleda Zia's condition has significantly improved," said her personal physician, Dr AZM Zahid Hossain. "Given her stability and the extended period she spent in the hospital, it was deemed appropriate to allow her to return home."

June 23, 2024 — Pacemaker implanted
Amid rapidly worsening health, the BNP chief had a pacemaker implanted following serious heart complications, further weakening her fragile condition.

July 8, 2024 — Re-admitted to hospital
Khaleda Zia was re-admitted to Evercare Hospital with a range of chronic illnesses, notably liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and complications affecting her kidneys, lungs, heart, and eyes.

August 5, 2024 — Fall of Hasina 

In an unprecedented political development, the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country under immense pressure from student- and citizen-led protests demanding political reform.

August 6, 2024 — Released from house arrest
Following Hasina's resignation, President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered Khaleda Zia's release from house arrest.

August 7, 2024 — First public address since 2018
Just a day after her release, Khaleda delivered her first public address in six years. In a video message to supporters gathered at a BNP rally in Dhaka's Naya Paltan, she thanked the public for their support and called for national unity and reconciliation.

August 13, 2024 — Police escort reinstated
The home ministry reinstated her police escort, which had been revoked in 2015 — another clear signal of her political rehabilitation.

August 19, 2024 — Bank accounts unfrozen
The National Board of Revenue unfroze her bank accounts, dormant since the 2007 anti-corruption crackdown.

November 21, 2024 — Appearance publicly at Armed Forces Day reception
For the first time in over a decade, Khaleda appeared in public at the Armed Forces Day reception at Senakunja — a quiet but powerful show of political resilience.

November 27, 2024 — Acquittal in graft case
The Supreme Court acquitted her in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case — a longstanding legal battle that had overshadowed her political career. The verdict cleared the path for a potential return to formal politics.

January 7, 2025 — Flight to London
Khaleda Zia flew to London for advanced medical care, accompanied by a team of doctors and aides — the latest chapter in her long and complicated battle for health and political relevance.

May 6, 2025 — The return 

She returned to Dhaka after four months abroad, receiving a hero's welcome. Her arrival has added fresh pressure on the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, to lay out a roadmap for the next general election.

After years of silence, seclusion, and speculation, Khaleda Zia is no longer just a relic of Bangladesh's political past. She is once again expected to shape the future of her party — quietly, steadily, and on her own terms.