The BNP yesterday said that the party was far from worried about the arrest warrants against its chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and that it would fight them both legally and politically after she returned home on Wednesday from London. The move was politically motivated, it claimed. Khaleda Zia is curently in the UK for medical treatment. At least four arrest warrants have so far been issued against the BNP chief in different cases, including two cases filed in connection with the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption and undermining the country’s map and the national flag. Home affairs minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told the media that the court order would be implemented after Khaleda Zia returned home. “The law will take its own course,” he added.

When contacted, Gulshan police station officer-in-charge Md Abu Bakar Siddique, however, said last night that they were yet to receive any warrant of arrest against Khaleda Zia.

Meanwhile, the BNP is organising a grand reception for their leader when she arrives at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by an Emirates flight at 5:40pm on

Wednesday. Khaleda has been in London for the last three months for eye and knees surgeries, sources said.

Leaders from different districts around Dhaka, including Gazipur, Narsingdi and Narayanganj, would be at the airport to receive the BNP supremo, the sources added.

Senior BNP leaders said that party workers were eagerly waiting and would go to the airport to receive their leader.

Talking to The Independent about the arrest warrant, BNP standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said that the party would handle the issue both legally and politically. “It’s nothing new. It’s politically motivated. There is a conspiracy. We aren’t worried at all,” he added.

The former minister expressed hope that party leaders and activists from different places would spontaneously go to the airport to receive their leader.

Meanwhile, another BNP standing committee member, Nazrul Islam Khan, questioned the issuance of an arrest warrant against Khaleda Zia in her absence, especially when everyone knows that she is in London for treatment.

He said that a warrant of arrest was also issued against Khaleda  in the past when she was confined to her Gulshan office.

“Let her come. She will appear before the court and face it legally,” he added.

The BNP leader also said party leaders and activists at the ‘thana’ and ward levels would go to the airport to receive her.

BNP organising secretary and Gazipur district unit president Fazlul Haque Milon said that all preparations to receive the leader has been made. Milon also said he had already held meetings to ensure a huge presence of party leaders and activists at the airport. He described the cases filed against Khaleda as false and fabricated.