KHALEDA Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister and a towering figure in the country’s turbulent politics, has died at the age of 80 after a prolonged illness, according to her party.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said Khaleda died at 6am local time (00:00 GMT).
“Our beloved national leader is no longer with us,” the BNP said.
“We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul,” it said.
Khaleda died at the Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, where she was admitted on November 23 with symptoms of a lung infection, according to The Daily Star, a Bangladesh news website.
Her doctors said she had advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, and chest and heart problems.
Khaleda’s death closes a chapter spanning more than three decades during which she and her rival Sheikh Hasina — who were known as the “battling begums” dominated Bangladeshi politics. Hasina, who was forced from power last year and sentenced to death in absentia for her crackdown on student protesters, is now in exile in India.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, expressed his “profound sorrow” at Khaleda’s death in a statement on X.
He called the three-time prime minister a “symbol of the democratic movement” in Bangladesh and said the “nation has lost a great guardian”.
“I am deeply saddened and grief-stricken by her death,” he added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan’s leader Shehbaz Sharif also offered their condolences.
Modi expressed deep sadness in a post on X and said Khaleda’s “important contributions towards the development of Bangladesh, as well as India-Bangladesh relations, will always be remembered”.
Sharif described Khaleda as a “committed friend of Pakistan” and said his government and the people of Pakistan stand with Bangladesh “in this moment of sorrow”.
“Her lifelong service to Bangladesh and its growth and development leaves a lasting legacy,” he added.
Khaleda’s legacy, like Hasina’s, remains deeply contested.
Both women fought for democracy, against authoritarianism. But while Khaleda – unlike Hasina – was never accused of carrying out mass atrocities against critics, she too was a polarising figure.
Her uncompromising style while in opposition – leading election boycotts and prolonged street movements – combined with recurring allegations of corruption when she was in power, made her a figure who inspired intense loyalty among supporters and equal distrust among her critics.
Khaleda was born on August 15, 1946, in Dinajpur, then part of India’s East Bengal, now northern Bangladesh. She married army officer Ziaur Rahman in 1960 when she was about 15. Rahman gained prominence after Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence, later assuming the presidency in 1977 and founding the BNP in 1978.
Khaleda’s political career began not through ambition, but tragedy.
Her husband was assassinated in an abortive military coup in 1981, plunging Bangladesh in turmoil. Rahman, who had stabilised the country after years of coups and counter-coups left behind a fragile political order.
Khaleda, who was 35-years-old and a mother of two, inherited the BNP leadership.