Dhaka, Nov. 30 -- The Nation is gripped by a wave of anxiety and prayer as former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia remains in the Coronary Care Unit of Evercare Hospital, where she has been fighting with critical illness since Thursday.

Across the country, mosques, homes, party offices and informal street gatherings have turned into spaces of collective supplication, with thousands offering dua and special prayers for the 80-year-old leader's recovery.

Despite repeated instructions from the BNP not to crowd the hospital premises, party activists, well-wishers and curious onlookers continued gathering outside Evercare on Saturday.

"Our leader is ill, so we came here to know about her condition," said Awlad Hossain, a BNP a...