BNP will hold doa and milad mahfil programmes across the country, including Dhaka, on Sunday, praying for the recovery of the party's ailing chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Speaking at a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office, BNP Senior Joint General Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programs on Saturday evening.

"You know that Madam (Khaleda) is under close observation of doctors at Evercare Hospital. All of our party leaders and workers are now very sad. We always pray to Almighty Allah for her recovery," he said.

He said their party's all city and district units will arrange prayers like doa and milad mahfil seeking divine blessings for Khaleda's speedy healing.

In Dhaka, he said they will organize a doa and milad mahfil at BNP's Nayapaltan central office at 11:30 am.

Rizvi said senior party leaders, including Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, will participate in the programme.

In response to a question, he alleged that the government is showing an inhumane attitude towards Khaleda Zia.

Rizvi said the current regime is snatching the BNP chief's human rights by not allowing her to go abroad for advanced treatment.

"Had there been a true democratic government with the rule of law and independence of the judiciary in the country, it wouldn't have happened," he observed.

Khaleda Zia was rushed to Evercare Hospital in an ambulance around 3:30 am as she suddenly fell ill at her residence, 'Firoza' in Gulshan.

She was quickly admitted to the CCU, where medical treatment began under the supervision of a medical board.

The medical board members, led by specialist physician Professor Shahabuddin Talukdar, had several meetings to discuss the former Prime Minister's current condition and her treatment.

The former prime minister, aged 79, has long battled various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to the kidney, lung, heart, and eyes.

Since her conditional release from prison in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving medical care repeatedly at the hospital under the supervision of a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof. Shahabuddin Talukder.

Khaleda's doctors have been advising sending her abroad since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021.

On October 26 last year, three US specialist doctors completed a hepatic procedure known as the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS procedure) to stop water accumulation in Khaleda's stomach and chest, and bleeding in her liver.