Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakharul Islam Alamgir has said that the condition of their chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is serious.

"Our leader Begum Khaleda Zia is ill. Her condition is serious. Tarique Rahman continues to struggle and organise even from exile. Other political leaders have also come forward now. So there is no time to sit at home," he said.

Fakhrul said that at a ceremony on the occasion of the golden jubilee of a fraction of Dhaka Journalist Union (DUJ) at the Jatiya Press Club on Tuesday afternoon.

Fakhrul also said, "Today the media is divided. On one hand, there are beneficiaries of this dreadful government, and on the other, some are struggling to reinstate democracy and freedom of speech... Many of them do not have jobs today, and many media outlets are closed for the 'crime' of telling the truth."

He criticised the government, saying, "The state is no longer a state. It has now become a factory of suffering. They have destroyed the soul of Bangladesh."

DUJ president Md Shohidul Islam and general secretary Khurshid Alam, BNP vice-chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu, and other leaders and activists were present on the occasion.