BNP chairperson and ex-premier Khaleda Zia's condition 'extremely critical': Alamgir
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia's health condition is "extremely critical", a close aide said on Friday.
The 80-year-old former premier was admitted to a hospital on Sunday night when she developed a chest infection that affected both her heart and lungs.
"Last night, the doctors said that her physical condition is extremely critical," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.
The BNP organised special prayers after the Friday prayers for the speedy recovery of the party's chairperson.
"We have sought prayers from the people across the country after Jummah prayers for the recovery of the 'Mother of Democracy', Begum Khaleda Zia. We pray that she may recover and return to the people to get the opportunity to work for the country," Fakhrul added.
Zia, the wife of slain Bangladesh president Zia-ur Rahman, has been suffering from multiple health complications, including liver and kidney issues, diabetes, arthritis, and eye-related illnesses.
Her only son and BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, has been living in London since 2008. Her other son, Arafat Rahman, died of a cardiac arrest in 2025.
BNP has emerged as the frontrunner in Bangladesh's changed political landscape after a student-led violent street protest toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
Earlier in the year, Zia returned to the country from London on May 6 after spending four months for advanced medical treatment.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
