Bangladesh's former PM Khaleda Zia dies at 80

Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia died on Tuesday, December 30, after suffering from prolonged illness. She was 80.

The chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) breathed her last at 6 am on Tuesday, according to a statement issued by her party.

"The BNP Chairperson and former prime minister, the national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6:00 am, just after the Fajr (dawn) prayer," the party said in a statement.

"We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul," it added.

Meanwhile, the BNP's media cell posted on Facebook early Monday, “Our beloved national leader Begum Khaleda Zia is no longer with us. She passed away this morning at 6 am.”

What happened to Khaleda Zia?

Doctor Professor FM Siddique said Khaleda Zia succumbed to a cardiac arrest.

"We declared her death after she succumbed to a cardiac arrest... Now our duty is to keep her in here in the mortuary until the government and the party decide what needs to be done now. We have lost a patriot today," he told ANI.

Khaleda Zia was earlier reported to have been “extremely critical.”

On December 11, she was placed on “ventilator support to give rest to her lungs and other vital organs.”

"It cannot be said that her condition has improved. She is passing through an extremely critical phase,” Dr AZM Zahid was quoted by news agency PTI as saying during a briefing held shortly after midnight on Saturday outside Evercare Hospital, without prior notice.

Doctors earlier told Reuters that Zia had liver disease, diabetes and heart problems.

Muhammad Yunus express sorrow

Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, expressed sorrow over the demise Khaleda Zia.

In a condolence message, as reported by ANI, the Chief Adviser said that with the passing of Begum Khaleda Zia, the nation has lost a great guardian.

He said, “I am deeply saddened and grief-stricken by her death. Begum Khaleda Zia was not merely the leader of a political party; she represented an important chapter in the history of Bangladesh."

“Her role in the struggle to establish democracy, a multi-party political culture, and the rights of the people in Bangladesh will be remembered forever,” Yunus said.

He added, “Through her uncompromising leadership, the nation was repeatedly freed from undemocratic conditions and inspired to regain liberty. The nation will remember her contributions to the country and its people with respect.”

"Despite political differences, her long political journey dedicated to national welfare, her people-oriented leadership, and her firm resolve always showed the way. With her death, the country has lost an experienced and proven stateswoman," Yunus' statement added.

Khaleda Zia: Bangladesh's first woman prime minister

Begum Khaleda Zia, born on August 15, 1946, was the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). She served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh three times since 1991.

She became the first woman to be elected as the prime minister of Bangladesh, and the second in the Muslim world.

Begum Zia was born to Iskandar Majumder and Taiyaba Majumder in the Dinajpur district. Her father had migrated to what was then West Pakistan following the partition from Jalpaiguri in India, where he had run a tea business.

Khaleda Zia studied at Dinajpur Government Girls' High School and later at Surendranath College.

In 1960, she married Bangladeshi military officer Ziaur Rahman. When Ziaur Rahman became Bangladesh's President, Begum Zia accompanied him as the First Lady and met world leaders, including Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the UK and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.

She joined BNP as a general member on January 2, 1982, after her husband Zia was assassinated in an attempted military coup in1981.

She was elected the vice-chairman of the party in March 1983, and in August 1984, the party elected her the chairperson.

In 1991, Khaleda Zia became Bangladesh's first woman prime minister.

According to the BNP, Begum Zia holds a “unique record of never losing in any constituency”. She was elected in five separate parliamentary constituencies in the general elections of 1991, 1996 and 2001. In 2008, she won in all three constituencies from where she contested.

Her time in politics was marred by corruption allegations. She stepped down as the PM in 2006. In 2007, Begum Khaleda Zia was placed under house arrest. She was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2018.

Zia was an archrival of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, who resigned and fled the country in 2024.

Since Hasina emerged victorious in 2009, Khaleda had faced an array of criminal charges and jail, receding from public life and leaving her exiled eldest son, Tarique Rahman, in charge as acting leader of her political movement.