Ex-Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia laid to rest next to husband in Dhaka; mourners bid emotional farewell
Thousands of mourners assembled outside the parliament complex to pay their last respects, with many Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters carrying flags bearing her photographs.
PTC News Desk: Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia was laid to rest on Wednesday, a day after she died from prolonged illness at the age of 80.
Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, was laid to rest with full state honours beside her husband, former president Ziaur Rahman.
In a televised address, Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammed Yunus announced three days of state mourning along with a one-day general holiday. Several foreign dignitaries attended the funeral, including Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
Her coffin, draped in the national flag, was brought in a convoy from her residence to the funeral venue. Thousands of mourners assembled outside the parliament complex to pay their last respects, with many Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters carrying flags bearing her photographs.
Zia had been battling multiple chronic and complex health issues, including liver and kidney ailments, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and infection-related complications. Her last public appearance was on November 21 at the Armed Forces Day reception at Dhaka Cantonment. Two days later, she was admitted to Evercare Hospital for routine tests, during which doctors detected a chest infection and kept her under observation.
Her political career, which spanned more than four decades, saw dramatic highs and lows—from leading a major political party and heading the government to being convicted in corruption cases and later receiving a presidential pardon.
Zia’s entry into politics at the age of 35 was unplanned and followed the assassination of her husband in 1981. A former military ruler turned politician, Ziaur Rahman had founded the BNP in 1978. In 1991, the BNP won the general election, making Zia Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister and the second in the Muslim world after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.
Her death comes at a tense moment for Bangladesh, which has been witnessing unrest following the killing of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi earlier this month. His death triggered widespread violent protests across the country.