End of an era: Bangladesh’s first female Prime Minister Khaleda Zia passes away at 80

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) confirmed that the country’s first woman Prime Minister died at 6 a.m., shortly after the Fajr prayer.

In a post on X, the BNP said: “The BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6:00 a.m., shortly after the Fajr prayer. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji‘un. We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul.”

Zia was undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. She passed away in the presence of family members, including her eldest son and BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who had returned to Bangladesh from London, where he had been living in exile since 2008.

Born on August 15, 1945, Khaleda Zia was the widow of former President Ziaur Rahman, the founder of the BNP, which she later led to national prominence.

She entered politics following her husband’s assassination in 1981 and gradually rose as a key opposition leader during Bangladesh’s movement against military rule.

In 1991, Khaleda Zia became Bangladesh’s first woman Prime Minister, serving two terms from 1991–1996 and 2001–2006. Her administrations focused on restoring parliamentary democracy, economic liberalisation and infrastructure development.

For decades, Bangladeshi politics was dominated by her intense rivalry with Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League, a phase often referred to as the era of “Begum politics.”

In her later years, Khaleda Zia faced multiple corruption cases that led to imprisonment, while prolonged health issues kept her largely out of active politics.