Bangladesh Remembers Khaleda Zia As An Indomitable Fighter And 'Guardian'

By Shakir Husain

NEW DELHI, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- Bangladesh remembered its first female prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, who passed away at the age of 80 on Tuesday, as a leader who defied the odds to emerge as an indomitable fighter for democracy.

Interim government Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus announced a three-day state mourning starting Wednesday and recalled her contributions to Bangladesh's development.

Yunus said in her death, Bangladesh has "lost a great guardian".

The daughter of businessman Iskandar Majumdar and social worker Taiyaba Majumdar, Khaleda was born in 1945 in undivided Bengal's Jalpaiguri during British rule.

Named Khaleda Khanam, she was the third among three sisters and two brothers, and her nickname was "Putul."

She married Ziaur Rahman in 1960 and was thrust into the country's rough and tumble following her husband's death.

Zia (the husband), who served as the chief of army staff and became the country's president in 1977, was assassinated in the port city of Chittagong in an attempted coup against him in 1981 at the age of 45.

Being widowed at 36 and steering the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), founded by her husband in 1978, were the challenges the former demure first lady overcame successfully to become an inspiring figure.

In the 1980s, Khaleda joined hands with various political forces, including Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Awami League leader and former president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in a movement that ended the rule of Lt. Gen. Hossain Mohammad Ershad in 1990.

Later, Khaleda and Hasina became archrivals, with the BNP and other political parties suffering a heavy crackdown during the 15-year Awami League rule until August 2024, when Hasina fled to India after being toppled in a popular uprising.

Khaleda served two five-year terms as prime minister, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006.

She also had a prime ministerial spell of about two weeks in 1996 after winning an early election marred by an opposition boycott.

Thereafter, a nonpartisan caretaker government system was introduced to conduct a new election in June of the same year.

Hasina scrapped the caretaker system in 2011, a move that strengthened political opposition to her rule and discredited the elections of 2014, 2018 and 2024.

Khaleda believed the neutral caretaker government rule was good for Bangladesh's political conditions and democracy.

"Three consecutive free and fair elections were held under a neutral caretaker government. This unique Constitutional innovation has ensured a peaceful transfer of power in alternating modes. Democracy has taken firm roots in Bangladesh," Khaleda said in a United Nations speech in September 2005.

Khaleda was jailed in 2018 on corruption charges that her party called politically motivated and as part of efforts to eliminate opposition.

Her legacy and political impact are expected to be felt for a long time.

Khaleda is praised for supporting pluralistic democracy, promoting education and national development, and advocating women's empowerment.

"Her role in the struggle to establish democracy, a multi-party political culture, and the rights of the people in Bangladesh will be remembered forever," Yunus said.

Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) that emerged after the anti-Hasina uprising, described Khaleda as an inspiration in the struggle and remembered her "steadfast morale and uncompromising stance despite the constant torture of a fascist state clique, cycles of false cases and political vengeance".

The Supreme Court Bar Association called Khaleda an uncompromising leader and "a guardian figure" for the Bangladeshi people.

"At this critical moment of political crisis, her death has left a significant void. We hope the nation will transform this grief into strength," association president A.M. Mahbub Uddin Khokon said.

"Her role in restoring multi-party democracy, the people's right to vote, and the anti-autocratic movement will remain memorable in history," Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman said in a statement.

Khaleda was ailing and admitted to Dhaka's Evercare Hospital.

However, she was keen on staying active in politics, and her candidature was announced from the Bogura-7 constituency in the parliamentary elections being held on Feb 12.

Her son, Tarique Rahman, 60, returned to Bangladesh on Dec 25 after 17 years in self-exile in Britain.

Tarique is considered the country's new leader if the BNP wins the election.

The NCP and the Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP's former poll partner, have formed an electoral alliance, but Hasina's Awami League cannot take part in the elections because of a ban on its activities.

Khaleda's funeral prayers will be held in front of the national parliament building in Dhaka on Wednesday, which has been declared a general holiday.

She will be laid to rest beside her late husband's grave.

-- BERNAMA