Dhaka: BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, widely regarded as an uncompromising leader for democracy in Bangladesh, passed away this morning while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in the city. She was 80. “Our beloved Deshnetri Begum Khaleda Zia passed away around 6am, just after Fajr prayers,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced at a press briefing outside the hospital.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the three-time former prime minister had been suffering from multiple health complications, including issues with her heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, as well as diabetes, arthritis, and eye-related ailments. Khaleda Zia had a permanent pacemaker and had previously undergone stenting in her heart. She was admitted to Evercare Hospital on November 23 following the advice of her medical board after being diagnosed with infections in her heart and lungs, and she was also suffering from pneumonia.
Since returning from London on May 6 after receiving advanced medical care, Khaleda Zia had been undergoing regular check-ups at Evercare Hospital. Her political legacy began with the journey of democracy in Bangladesh in 1991 when she assumed office through the national elections. Khaleda Zia introduced the parliamentary form of government and the caretaker government system to ensure free, fair, and credible elections.
Although she had been imprisoned since 2018, her party and family members repeatedly urged the government to allow her to seek medical treatment abroad, but their pleas were rejected. Khaleda Zia is survived by her son Tarique Rahman and a host of relatives and admirers. Tarique Rahman returned home on December 25 after 17 years in exile. Her younger son, Arafat Rahman Koko, passed away in Malaysia a few years ago.
Born in Dinajpur in 1945, Khaleda Zia initially attended Dinajpur Missionary School and later completed her matriculation from Dinajpur Girls’ School in 1960. Her father, Iskandar Mazumder, was a businessman, and her mother, Tayeba Mazumder, was a housewife. Nicknamed “Putul,” Khaleda was the second among three sisters and two brothers. In 1960, she married Ziaur Rahman, then a captain in the Pakistan army, and continued her education at Surendranath College of Dinajpur until 1965.
When the Liberation War started in 1971, Ziaur Rahman revolted and participated in the war. After his assassination on May 30, 1981, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) faced a serious crisis. Khaleda Zia, who had never been involved in politics, joined the party and became its vice-president on January 12, 1984, before being elected as BNP’s chairperson on May 10, 1984. She was reelected as the chairperson in January 2010.
Under Khaleda Zia’s leadership, BNP formed a 7-party alliance in 1983 and launched a movement against the autocratic regime of Ershad. Despite the Ershad government’s restrictions on her movement and several detentions, Khaleda Zia continued to provide leadership in the movement for ousting Ershad, earning her the title of “uncompromising leader.” In the 1991 parliamentary elections, BNP emerged victorious as a single majority party, and Khaleda Zia won in all the constituencies she contested.
On March 20, 1991, Khaleda Zia was sworn in as the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. She took oath as the prime minister under the new parliamentary system on September 19, 1991.