Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister, Khaleda Zia, died on Tuesday at the age of 80 just after her morning prayers, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said in a statement. The BNP stalwart and arch-rival of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina reportedly had advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, and chest and heart problems.
The 80-year-old became her nation’s first female prime minister in 1991 by leading the BNP to victory in the first free election in more than a decade. However, very few people know about her connection to India.
Khaleda Zia’s India connect
The Bangladeshi leader was born in Bengal’s Jalpaiguri, which was then part of the undivided Dinajpur district in British India, on August 15, 1945.
After the Partition, Khaleda and her family moved to Dinajpur town, which is now in Bangladesh. She first studied at Dinajpur Missionary School and later joined Dinajpur Girls’ School in 1960.
Her parents were Iskandar and Taiyaba Majumder. Iskandar Ali Majumder reportedly worked in the tea business in undivided Dinajpur before the family migrated.
Bangladesh’s first female PM dies
Although the three-time prime minister had remained out of office since 2006 and spent several years either in jail or under house arrest, she and her BNP party continued to command strong public support.
In 2018, Khaleda, her son Tarique Rahman, and their aides were found guilty of misusing about $250,000 in foreign donations meant for an orphanage trust that was set up during her last term as prime minister. She said the case was politically motivated and aimed at forcing her and her family out of public life.
She was sent to prison but was later placed under house arrest in March 2020 on humanitarian grounds as her health worsened.
In early 2025, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court acquitted Khaleda and Rahman of the corruption charges that had led to their 2018 convictions.
The BNP is now seen as the leading contender in the parliamentary election scheduled for February. Her son and the party’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, returned to Bangladesh last week after nearly 17 years in self-exile and is being seen as a strong contender for the post of prime minister.