The Tamesis
December 30, 2025
Dhaka – “Khaleda Zia passed away at around 6:00 am, just after Fajr prayers,” a post on the BNP’s verified Facebook page said.
BNP general secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also confirmed her death.
Khalida was admitted to Evercare Hospital on November 23 on the advice of the medical board after being diagnosed with a heart and lung infection. She also suffered from pneumonia.
80-year-old Khalida has long suffered from multiple health complications, including heart problems, liver and kidney problems, diabetes, lung problems, arthritis and eye-related conditions. She had a permanent pacemaker and had previously undergone a cardiac stent.
Khalida has been undergoing regular check-ups at Evercare Hospital after returning from advanced medical care in London on May 6.
Khaleda Zia, the first female Prime Minister of Bangladesh, left a profound political legacy that began with her journey to democracy in 1991.
Khalida was elected by popular vote in the 1991 national election. She introduced a parliamentary form of government and a caretaker system to oversee free and fair elections.
Although she has been in jail since 2018, her party and family repeatedly urged the then Awami League government to allow Khaleda to go abroad for better treatment, but the request was rejected.
She is survived by her eldest son Tariq, two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren. Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh on December 25 after 17 years in exile. Khalida’s youngest son Arafat Rahman Koko died in Malaysia a few years ago.
The former prime minister was jailed on February 8, 2018 in a corruption case. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, she was temporarily discharged from the hospital on March 25, 2020. She has since been hospitalized multiple times.
Born in Jalpaiguri in 1945, Khaleda initially attended Dinajpur Mission School and later matriculated from Dinajpur Girls School in 1960.
Khalida’s father, Iskandar Majumder, is a businessman, and her mother, Tayeba Majumder, is a housewife. Khalida, nicknamed “Putul,” was the second among three sisters and two brothers.
In 1960, she married Ziaur Rahman, then a captain in the Pakistan Army, and continued her studies at Surendranath College in Dinajpur until 1965, when she moved to West Pakistan to join her husband.
When the Liberation War broke out in 1971, Zia Rahman rebelled and participated in the war.
After the assassination of Ziaur Rahman on May 30, 1981, BNP faced a serious crisis. At this critical juncture, Khaleda Zia, who had never been in politics, joined the party and became the party’s vice president on January 12, 1984. He was elected chairman of the BNP on May 10, 1984, and re-elected as chairman of the party in January 2010.
In 1983, under the leadership of Khaleda Zia, the BNP formed a seven-party alliance to launch a campaign against Ershad’s dictatorship.
Ershad’s government restricted her movements and she was detained several times. Undaunted, Khaleda Zia continued to lead the movement to overthrow Ershad. She has been called an “uncompromising leader.”
In the parliamentary elections held in 1991, the BNP won as a single majority party. Khaleda Zia contested three consecutive parliamentary elections from five constituencies and won all seats.
On March 20, 1991, Khaleda Zia was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Bangladesh. On September 19, 1991, he was sworn in as Prime Minister under the new system.
Khaleda Zia became Prime Minister for a second consecutive term through national elections on 15 February 1996. However, all major opposition parties boycotted the election.
Faced with demands from the opposition parties, the then government proposed amending the constitution to provide for a neutral caretaker government to conduct parliamentary elections.
Parliament was dissolved after the introduction of caretaker clauses, and Khaleda handed power to a caretaker government on 30 March 1996. In the subsequent polls held on 12 June 1996 under the caretaker government led by Justice Mohammad Habibur Rehman, the BNP was defeated by the Awami League.
During the term of the Awami League government from 1996 to 2001, Khaleda served as the leader of the opposition party of the Awami League.
In the next parliamentary elections held on 1 October 2001 under the caretaker government of Justice Latifur Rahman, a four-party alliance led by the BNP won more than two-thirds of the Jatiya Sangsad seats.
On October 10, 2001, Khaleda Zia was sworn in as the country’s prime minister for the third time.
In 2007, when an army-backed caretaker government came into power, Khaleda was sent to jail along with many other political leaders, including Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina.
She was later released from prison and ran in the 2008 parliamentary elections, but her party failed to win.
The BNP did not participate in the 2014 parliamentary elections, and the party withdrew from parliament for the first time since 1991.
She was sent to jail after the Dhaka Special Court sentenced her to five years in prison on February 8, 2018, in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.
On October 30 of that year, the High Court increased her sentence to 10 years. She was later found guilty in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the then Awami League government temporarily released Khaleda through an executive order on March 25, 2020. Her sentence was suspended on the condition that she stay at home in Gulshan and not leave the country.
On August 6 this year, President Mohammad Shahabuddin exempted the BNP Chairman from punishment in accordance with the presidential powers provided for in Article 49 of the Constitution, and the BNP Chairman was fully released.
