Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh Political Icon, Dies at 80

News Desk 

Islamabad: Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister and one of the most influential and polarising figures in the country’s political history, passed away on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. 

Khaleda Zia was 80.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which she led for decades, confirmed her death, saying she had been suffering from multiple health complications. 

Her doctors said she had advanced liver cirrhosis, along with arthritis, diabetes, and heart and chest ailments. Earlier this year, Khaleda travelled to London for medical treatment, where she stayed for four months before returning home.

Though she had remained out of power since 2006 and spent years either imprisoned or under house arrest, Khaleda Zia continued to command deep loyalty among supporters and remained a central figure in Bangladesh’s political landscape until her final days.

Her death comes at a critical political juncture. The BNP is widely regarded as the frontrunner in the parliamentary elections scheduled for February, while her son and acting BNP chairman, Tarique Rahman, returned to Bangladesh last week after nearly 17 years in self-imposed exile. At 60, he is seen as a strong contender for the premiership.

Bangladesh has been governed by an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus since August 2024, when a student-led uprising forced the removal of longtime rival Sheikh Hasina. In November, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia for her violent crackdown on the protests.

From Army Wife to Political Leader

Known widely by her first name, Khaleda lived a largely private life until tragedy thrust her into politics. Described by close associates as shy and devoted to raising her two sons, her life changed dramatically in 1981, when her husband, military ruler and then-President Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated during an attempted coup.

Three years later, Khaleda assumed leadership of the BNP, the party her husband had founded, pledging to fulfil his vision of freeing Bangladesh from poverty and economic stagnation.

In an unlikely alliance, she joined hands with Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and head of the Awami League, to lead a mass pro-democracy movement that toppled military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad in 1990.

The “Battling Begums”

The partnership soon dissolved into one of South Asia’s most enduring political rivalries. Khaleda and Hasina came to be known as the “Battling Begums”, an expression using an Urdu honorific for influential women.

Supporters saw Khaleda as polite, traditional and carefully spoken, yet fiercely uncompromising in defence of her party. Hasina, in contrast, was known for her blunt and combative style. Their clashing personalities shaped decades of bitter political confrontation.

In 1991, Bangladesh held what was widely celebrated as its first free election. Khaleda scored a surprise victory over Hasina, with support from Jamaat-e-Islami, becoming Bangladesh’s first female prime minister  and only the second woman, after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, to lead a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country.

During her first term, Khaleda restored the parliamentary system, curtailed presidential powers, lifted restrictions on foreign investment, and made primary education free and compulsory.

She lost power in 1996, only to return with a landslide victory five years later. Her second term, however, was overshadowed by the rise of militant groups and persistent allegations of corruption.

Violence, Jail and Political Exile

One of the darkest moments of her tenure came in 2004, when a grenade attack targeted a rally addressed by Hasina. While Hasina survived, more than 20 people were killed and over 500 injured. Khaleda’s government and its allies were widely blamed.

Although her administration later cracked down on radical groups, political instability culminated in 2006, when an army-backed interim government took control. Both Khaleda and Hasina were jailed on corruption and abuse-of-power charges for about a year before being released ahead of the 2008 elections.

Khaleda never returned to power. With the BNP boycotting the 2014 and 2024 elections, her feud with Hasina continued to paralyse Bangladesh’s politics, triggering strikes, violence and loss of life in a country of nearly 175 million people, vulnerable to poverty and climate disasters.

In 2018, Khaleda, Rahman and close aides were convicted of misappropriating about $250,000 in foreign donations meant for an orphanage trust. She was jailed but shifted to house arrest in March 2020 due to worsening health.

She was finally freed in August 2024 following Hasina’s ouster. In early 2025, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court acquitted Khaleda and Rahman in the corruption case, while Rahman was also cleared of charges related to the 2004 grenade attack.

Condolences from Pakistan

Leaders in Pakistan paid tribute to Khaleda Zia’s legacy. President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar expressed deep sorrow over her passing.

In a message posted on X, PM Shehbaz described Khaleda Zia as a leader whose lifelong service to Bangladesh would be remembered with respect, calling her “a committed friend of Pakistan.”

“My Government and the people of Pakistan stand with the people of Bangladesh in this moment of sorrow,” he said. “May Allah SWT bless her soul.”

President Zardari said her leadership and services would be remembered with honour, while DPM Dar prayed for patience for the bereaved family and eternal peace for the departed leader.

With her passing, Bangladesh closes a defining chapter in its political history — one shaped by rivalry, resilience, controversy, and an enduring struggle for power. In put fron Geo News website.