Khaleda Zia useless: Bangladesh’s first girl Prime Minister and widow of slain chief dies aged 80
Khaleda Zia was elected the first female prime minister of Bangladesh after her husband was killed in a military coup, and her rivalry with Sheikh Hasina dominated the country’s politics for a generation
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, whose fierce rivalry with another ex-premier shaped the nation’s politics for decades, has passed away at the age of 80, according to a statement from her Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday.
Zia holds the distinction of being the first woman elected as prime minister in Bangladesh. She became embroiled in corruption allegations, which she claimed were politically driven, reports the Associated Press. However, in January 2025, the Supreme Court cleared Zia of the final corruption charge against her, paving the way for her to participate in the general election in February.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) revealed that after her release from prison due to illness in 2020, her family appealed to the administration of her arch-rival, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, at least 18 times to permit her to seek treatment overseas, but these requests were denied.
Following Hasina’s removal from power in 2024, an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus finally granted Zia permission to travel abroad. She travelled to London in January and returned to Bangladesh in May.
Bangladesh’s initial years of independence, achieved through a brutal 1971 war against Pakistan, were characterised by assassinations, coups and counter-coups as military figures, secular and Islamic leaders vied for control.
Zia’s husband, President Ziaur Rahman, seized power as a military chief in 1977 and subsequently established the Bangladesh Nationalist Party a year later. He was lauded for ushering in democracy in the nation, but his life was cut short in a 1981 military coup.
Zia’s unwavering opposition to the military dictatorship fuelled a mass movement against it, culminating in the overthrow of dictator and ex-army chief H. M. Ershad in 1990.
Zia’s adversary when she clinched her first term in 1991, and in several subsequent elections, was Hasina, the daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was assassinated in a 1975 coup.
Zia faced backlash over an early 1996 election where her party secured 278 out of the 300 parliamentary seats amidst a broad boycott by other prominent parties, including Hasina’s Awami League, which called for a caretaker government during the election period. Zia’s administration lasted a mere 12 days before a nonpartisan caretaker government took over and a new election was conducted that June.
Zia regained power in 2001 in a coalition government with the country’s principal Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, which had a murky history linked to Bangladesh’s war of independence.
Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party was once a close ally of the party, and her administration maintained the trust of the business sector by adhering to pro-investment, free-market policies. Zia had a known affinity for Pakistan and used to deliver anti-Indian speeches.
India alleged that under Zia, insurgents were allowed to use Bangladesh’s soil to destabilize India’s northeastern states, especially during her second term from 2001-2006. During that term, Zia was also tainted by allegations that her elder son, Tarique Rahman, was running a parallel government and was involved in widespread corruption.
In 2004, Hasina held Zia’s government and Rahman responsible for grenade attacks in Dhaka that resulted in the death of 24 members of her Awami League party and injured hundreds. Hasina narrowly survived the attack, which she described as an assassination attempt, and subsequently triumphed in the 2008 general election.
Zia’s party and its allies boycotted the 2014 election over a dispute regarding a caretaker government, handing a one-sided victory to Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian regime. Her party participated in the national elections in 2018 but boycotted again in 2024, enabling Hasina to secure a fourth consecutive term through contentious elections.
Zia was handed a 17-year prison sentence in two separate corruption cases, accused of misusing power to embezzle funds intended for a charity named after her late husband. Her party claimed the charges were politically motivated attempts to weaken the opposition, but the Hasina government maintained it had no involvement and that the case was a matter for the courts.
Hasina faced severe backlash from both her adversaries and independent critics for incarcerating Zia.
In 2020, Zia was released from prison by Hasina’s administration and relocated to a rented residence, where she frequently visited a private hospital. Despite repeated pleas from her family for Hasina’s government to permit Zia to seek medical treatment abroad, their requests were denied.
Following a 15-year reign, Hasina was overthrown in a mass uprising in August 2024 and fled the country. An interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus granted Zia permission to travel overseas.
For years, Zia remained silent on political matters and refrained from attending political rallies, yet she retained her position as BNP chairperson until her passing. Rahman has served as the party’s acting chair since 2018.
Zia made her last public appearance at an annual Bangladesh military function in Dhaka Cantonment on 21 November, where Yunus and other political leaders met with her. She appeared pale and tired, and was seated in a wheelchair.
She is survived by Rahman, her elder son and heir apparent in the political dynasty. Her younger son, Arafat, passed away in 2015.
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