Khaleda Zia

Khaleda Zia was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh during two separate terms. She held the position from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. As the longest serving chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from 1984 until her death in 2025, she became a central figure in the nation's history.

Early life and education

Khaleda Khanam was born in 1946 in Jalpaiguri within the Bengal Province of British India. She was the third of five children born to Iskandar Ali Majumder and Taiyaba Majumder. Her father worked as a broker at Das and Co., which was a company involved in the local tea business. According to reports from the BBC Bangla, her family migrated to East Bengal in 1950 following communal riots in Jalpaiguri.

She attended Dinajpur Missionary School and later enrolled in Dinajpur Girls' School. However, she dropped out of school after she married in 1960. Although she reportedly enrolled in Surendranath College in Dinajpur, she moved to West Pakistan in 1965 to live with her husband. She described herself as self-educated because there are no records of her graduating from high school.

Controversy surrounded her birth date, as she claimed 15 August was her birthday. This date coincided with the day family members of her political rival, Sheikh Hasina, were killed in 1975. While she claimed 15 August, her passport indicates a birth date of 5 August 1946. Her matriculation certificate lists 9 August 1945, and her marriage certificate states 5 September 1945.

Career

Zia became active in politics after the assassination of her husband, Ziaur Rahman, in 1981. She assumed leadership of the BNP in 1984 and led the party during the pro-democracy movement against Hussain Muhammad Ershad. She helped lead the 1990 mass uprising alongside Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League. Because she and her party boycotted the 1986 and 1988 general elections, she earned a reputation as an uncompromising leader.

Her first term as prime minister began after the BNP won the 1991 general election. During this period, she introduced various administrative, economic, and educational reforms. Her party also formed a short-lived government following the controversial February 1996 general election. This election was boycotted by the opposition parties.

She returned to power after her party won the 2001 general election. Her second premiership lasted until 2006 and saw growth in female literacy, foreign investment, and GDP. However, the Corruption Perceptions Index reported that Bangladesh became the most corrupt country in the world during this time. A political crisis led to a military takeover in 2007, which resulted in her detention on corruption charges.

Following the 2008 election, she was driven from her house after the BNP was defeated by the Awami League. She boycotted the 2014 general election and was sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption in 2018. After the July Uprising in 2024, she was released and acquitted of all charges. She died on 30 December 2025 in a hospital.

Personal life

In 1960, she married Ziaur Rahman, who was a captain in the Pakistan Army at the time. She changed her name to Khaleda Zia by adopting her husband's surname. During the Liberation War of Bangladesh, she and her two sons were detained by Pakistani Forces. They were held in the old Parliament building and later moved to the Dhaka Cantonment until they were released on 16 December 1971.

She had two sons, Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman. Tarique Rahman was elected as the chairman of the BNP in the 2026 general election. Her second son, Arafat Rahman, was a sports organizer who died in 2015. Her sister, Khurshid Jahan, served as the Minister of Women and Children Affairs from 2001 to 2006.

Awards and recognition

Khaleda Zia was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. She was also the second female prime minister in the Muslim world after Benazir Bhutto. She received the Independence Award for her contributions.