TRT World has joined the Bangladesh Opposition campaign to allow Khaleda Zia to fly abroad for treatment. But it’s latest report are so full if holes and looks more like a campaign video.
The report does not even mention that Zia has enjoyed the benefit of treatment at home despite being convicted by court.
That was made possible by an executive order moved at the behest of PM Hasina on humanitarian considerations , taking into account Zia’s old age and medical condition. Her treatment at home was done by doctors of her choice and her present condition cannot be blamed on the government.
The report overlooks that Zia’s worsening condition has much to do with her reckless lifestyle including chronic alcoholism.
When a Bangladeshi applies for medical visa from a country where he or she intends to undergo medical treatment, specifics like appointment with hospitals have to be produced. The Zia family and her BNP party is politicizing the issue without giving any detail where they intend to take Khaleda Zia for treatment.
Since she is barred from foreign.travel by a court, the family needs to move the court for an order to permit foreign travel . This is the law of the land, not a fallout of Battling Begums as TRT makes it out to be
The TRT’s ‘ Battling Begum’ characterisation of the political divide in Bangladesh is a naive and simplistic way of representing the country’s political issues. The Hasina-Khaleda or the Awami League-BNP divide is one of rival political ideologies.
Hasina represents the secular linguistic Bengali nationalism that got the country its freedom from an oppressive Pakistan , Khaleda represents her husband’s authoritarian political culture and one based on the Pakistsni model of pampering Islamist radicals.
Finally, if Khaleda wishes, she can explore the possibility of filing a mercy petition to the President seeking forgiveness and permission to travel abroad.
Her family and the party have done none of these but hut the streets to politicize the issue. Some media outlets like TRT have fallen for the bait.
And TRT’s own video showing a thin crowd in the protest march belies the report’s claim of ” massive protests ” . Why does your video editor cut away from the footage of the March in a few seconds? Because it is not massive, as you claim.