Bangladesh(The COW News Digital)Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia passed away on Monday at the age of 80 after a prolonged battle with multiple illnesses, hospital officials confirmed.
According to medical sources, Khaleda Zia breathed her last at a hospital in the capital, Dhaka, at around 6:00 am local time. She had been receiving intensive medical care for several weeks and was placed on life support as her condition deteriorated. Doctors said she was suffering from severe liver complications along with other age-related health problems.
Members of the medical board treating her stated that Khaleda Zia required regular dialysis, and her condition worsened significantly whenever the procedure was paused. Due to her advanced age and the complexity of her illnesses, doctors said it was no longer possible to effectively treat all conditions simultaneously. A day before her death, hospital authorities had described her health as “critical.”
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Khaleda Zia was one of the most influential political figures in Bangladesh’s history. She served as prime minister twice — first from 1991 to 1996 and later from 2001 to 2006 — leading the country during key democratic transitions. She was the first woman to become prime minister of Bangladesh and the second woman in the Muslim world to hold the office, after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.
She was the widow of former President Ziaur Rahman, a military leader-turned-politician who played a significant role in Bangladesh’s post-independence politics. Following his assassination in 1981, Khaleda Zia entered politics and later emerged as a central figure in the country’s two-party system.
Her political career was marked by intense rivalry with Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina, a contest that shaped Bangladeshi politics for decades. While admired by supporters for her leadership, Khaleda Zia also faced criticism and legal challenges. In 2018, she was sentenced to prison on corruption charges, which her party described as politically motivated.
Her death comes at a sensitive time for Bangladesh, as the country prepares for upcoming national elections. Only days earlier, her son and BNP’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, returned to Bangladesh after ending a 17-year exile abroad, a move widely seen as politically significant.
Tributes and condolences have begun pouring in from political leaders and supporters across the country, marking the end of an era in Bangladeshi politics.
