Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister and a figurehead in the country’s turbulent politics, has died at the age of 80 after a long battle with illness, her party announced.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced in a statement on Tuesday that Khaleda died at 6 a.m. local time (midnight Japan time).
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“Our beloved national leader is no longer with us,” the BNP said.
“We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and ask everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul,” the statement said.
Bangladesh declared three days of national mourning. Asif Nazrul, the caretaker government’s head of legal affairs, said Khaleda’s funeral will be held on Wednesday, with a funeral service held in front of parliament after midday prayers, after which she will be buried next to her late husband, assassinated former president Ziaur Rahman.
Khaleda died at Dhaka’s Evercare Hospital, where she was admitted on November 23 with symptoms of a lung infection, Bangladeshi news website Daily Star reported.
Doctors said she had advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes and chest and heart problems.
Khaleda’s death ends a chapter in more than three decades in which she and rival Sheikh Hasina, known as the “Fighting Begum,” have dominated Bangladeshi politics. Hasina was ousted from power last year and sentenced to death in absentia for cracking down on student protesters, and is currently living in exile in India.
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus expressed “deep sadness” over Khaleda’s death in a statement on X.
He called the three-time Bangladeshi prime minister a “symbol of the democracy movement” and said, “This country has lost a great protector.”
“I am deeply saddened and heartbroken by her death,” he added.
In a national television broadcast, he acknowledged it was a “very emotional” time for the country and appealed for calm.
“We humbly appeal to everyone to maintain discipline while observing all forms of mourning, including funeral prayers. We know that you are all very emotional at this time.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed their condolences.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Modi expressed his deep sadness and said Khaleda’s “significant contribution to the development of Bangladesh and the development of India-Bangladesh relations will always be remembered.”
Mr Sharif described Mr Khaleda as a “dedicated friend of Pakistan” and said his government and the people of Pakistan would support Bangladesh “at this moment of sadness”.
“Her lifelong service to Bangladesh and its growth and development has left a lasting legacy,” he added.
Reporting from outside Khaleda’s residence in Dhaka, Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chaudhry said that although her health problems had been publicly known for several weeks, Bangladeshis were in shock at losing an important figure in their country’s national life.
“The nation is grieving,” he said.
Thousands of people gathered outside the hospital where she died to pay their respects.
“She has always been admired,” he said. “She was at the forefront of the democracy movement.”
first female prime minister
Khaleda’s legacy, like Hasina’s, remains hotly debated.
Both women fought for democracy and against authoritarianism. However, unlike Hasina, Khaleda was not accused of committing mass atrocities against her critics, although she too was known as a polarizing figure.
Her uncompromising style during her time in the opposition, including leading election boycotts and protracted street campaigns, combined with repeated allegations of corruption during her time in power, made her a figure who aroused strong loyalty among supporters and distrust of critics alike.
Khaleda was born on August 15, 1946 in Dinajpur, then part of the Indian state of East Bengal, now in northern Bangladesh. She married Rahman, an army officer, in 1960 when she was around 15 years old. Rahman rose to fame after the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence, then became president in 1977 and founded the BNP in 1978.
Khaleda’s political career began not with ambition but with tragedy.
Her husband was assassinated in a military coup in 1981, and Bangladesh was thrown into chaos. Rahman stabilized the country after years of coups and counter-coups, but left behind a fragile political order.
Khaleda, then a 35-year-old mother of two, took over leadership of the BNP.
Initially dismissed as a political novice, she proved to be a formidable opponent, rallying against military junta Hussein Mohamed Ershad and later working with Hasina, the daughter of independent leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1990, to remove him.
The following year, in what was billed as Bangladesh’s first free election, Khaleda won an unexpected victory over Hasina with the support of the country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
She becomes the second woman to lead a democratic government in the Muslim-majority country, following Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto three years ago.
Rivalry with Hasina
Khaleda replaced the presidential system with a parliamentary system, with power vested in the prime minister. Additionally, restrictions on foreign investment were abolished, and elementary education was made compulsory and free of charge.
She lost the 1996 general election to Hasina, but returned five years later with an unexpected landslide victory.
However, intractable conflicts between the two countries fueled the crisis, which accelerated in January 2007, when a standoff led to a military-backed state of emergency rule. Both women were detained for more than a year.
Hasina then gained the upper hand and ruled from 2008 until her violent overthrow in 2024.
In 2018, Khaleda, her son Tariq Rahman, and aides were found guilty of stealing about $250,000 in foreign donations received by an orphanage trust set up during her last term as prime minister, a charge she denounced as part of a conspiracy to keep her and her family out of politics.
She was imprisoned, but was transferred to house arrest in March 2020 on humanitarian grounds as her health deteriorated. Hasina’s government also banned her from traveling abroad for treatment.
Mr. Khaleda was released shortly after Mr. Hasina was ousted from power.
Earlier this year, the Bangladesh Supreme Court acquitted Khaleda and her son in a corruption case. Rahman was also acquitted of charges related to the 2004 grenade attack on Hasina and returned to Bangladesh on Thursday after 17 years in self-imposed exile.
Despite years of poor health and imprisonment, Mr. Khaleda promised in November that he would participate in elections scheduled for February. It will be the first vote since last year’s massive uprising that toppled his biggest rival.
Rahman is scheduled to lead the BNP in the February 12 general election, and is expected to be nominated as prime minister if his party wins a majority.
