Bangladesh’s three-time former prime minister and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Khaleda Zia, passed away at 6:00am on Tuesday. She was 80.

Khaleda passed away at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, where she had been receiving treatment for multiple health complications.

Family members present at the time of her death included her eldest son and BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, his wife Zobaida Rahman, their daughter Zaima Rahman, as well as Khaleda Zia’s younger brother Shamim Eskander and elder sister Selina Islam.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and members of the medical board overseeing her treatment were also at the hospital.

The party’s media cell confirmed the death shortly afterwards.

BNP announced a seven-day mourning period following the death of the party’s chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The announcement was made at a press conference held at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka on Tuesday morning by BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Rizvi said that during the seven-day period, party leaders and activists would wear black badges.

Quran recitations and prayer gatherings will be held in all offices.

Condolence books will be opened at the BNP headquarters in Paltan and Gulshan.

The schedule for her burial and final rites will be announced later, Rizvi said.

Khaleda Zia had been admitted to Evercare Hospital on November 23.

Following medical examinations, doctors said she had developed a lung infection. She had long suffered from several chronic conditions, including arthritis, diabetes, kidney complications and eye problems.

Earlier this year, she travelled to London on January 7 for advanced medical treatment and returned to Bangladesh on May 6 after spending 117 days under medical care abroad.

Born on August 15, 1946, in Dinajpur district, Khaleda Zia rose to national prominence after the assassination of her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, in 1981.

She went on to lead the BNP to multiple electoral victories and served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996, briefly in 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006.

For more than three decades, Khaleda Zia remained a dominant and polarising figure in Bangladesh’s political landscape, playing a central role in shaping the country’s political history.

Khaleda Zia’s Enduring Political Legacy

Khaleda Zia, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh three times since 1991. She holds the distinction of being the first woman elected as prime minister in the country and the second in the Muslim world. Her political journey has been marked by resilience, determination, and an enduring fight for democracy.

Born on 15 August 1946 in Dinajpur District, Khaleda Zia is the daughter of Iskandar Majumder and Taiyaba Majumder. Her father migrated to what was then West Pakistan following Partition, having previously managed a tea business in Jalpaiguri, India. The family originally hailed from Feni in southeastern Bangladesh.

Khaleda studied at Dinajpur Government Girls High School and later at Surendranath College. In 1960, she married Ziaur Rahman, who would later become President of Bangladesh.

Following the tragic assassination of President Ziaur Rahman during a failed coup in 1981, Khaleda Zia joined the BNP as a general member on 2 January 1982.

She quickly rose through the party ranks, becoming vice-chairman in March 1983 and, by August 1984, the party’s chairperson.

During the military rule of Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who seized power in a coup in 1982, Khaleda Zia led a nationwide movement to restore democracy.

She formed a seven-party alliance in 1983 to challenge Ershad’s dictatorship and refused to participate in the rigged 1986 election, even as rival parties including the Awami League, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Communist Party of Bangladesh contested.

Her activism came at great personal risk, leading to her detention seven times between 1983 and 1990.

Khaleda Zia’s perseverance paid off when she became Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister on February 27, 1991 through a general election.

She was re-elected in 1996, but resigned within a month to hand over power to a caretaker government.

In 1999, the BNP formed a four-party opposition alliance with the Jatiya Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Islami Oikya Jote, launching multiple agitation programmes against the ruling Awami League.

In 2001, Khaleda Zia returned to power.

She stepped down in 2006, transferring authority to a caretaker administration.

However, her political career has also been marred by legal challenges. In September 2007, she was arrested by the caretaker government on corruption charges, and in 2018, she was sentenced to 17 years in prison in connection with the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust cases.

She was sent to jail on February 8, 2018 after a lower court sentenced her to five years in one of the cases. Later that year, she was convicted in another corruption case.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government temporarily released her on March 25, 2020 under an executive order, suspending her sentence on the condition that she remain in her Gulshan residence and not leave the country.

Since her conditional release, Khaleda Zia had been under medical supervision, receiving treatment from a medical board led by cardiologist Professor Shahabuddin Talukder.

She was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021, prompting doctors to recommend treatment abroad.

On October 26, 2023, three US specialist doctors conducted a hepatic procedure to manage fluid accumulation in her stomach and chest and prevent liver bleeding.

Despite repeated requests from her family and the BNP, the government under the Awami League denied permission for overseas treatment.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, Khaleda Zia’s sentences were remitted by a presidential order.

President Md Shahabuddin officially exempted her from punishment in two corruption cases on August 6, 2024, allowing for her release.

A gazette notification confirmed that all 37 cases filed against her during the army-backed caretaker government and the 15-year rule of the Awami League were cleared.

Khaleda Zia holds a unique record in Bangladeshi politics: she had never lost in any constituency.

Between the 1991, 1996, and 2001 general elections, she was elected from five separate parliamentary seats, and in 2008 she won in all three constituencies she contested.

Throughout her political career, Khaleda Zia had been a steadfast advocate for democracy and civil liberties.

Since 2009, she repeatedly challenged the increasingly authoritarian measures of the Sheikh Hasina-led government, enduring house arrests and forced evictions from her residence.

Even during periods of personal and political adversity, her focus remained on strengthening democratic governance in Bangladesh.

At 80, Khaleda Zia continued to be a symbol of resilience and determination in Bangladeshi politics.

Her journey from a student in Dinajpur to the first female prime minister of the country, through periods of imprisonment and medical crises, underscored her enduring influence and legacy.