Who was Khaleda Zia: The shy housewife who became Bangladesh’s first female PM and carried forward Ziaur Rahman’s legacy

Khaleda Zia: The shy housewife who led Bangladesh as its first female prime minister

• Begum Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's first female PM, died at 80 in Dhaka hospital
• She led the BNP for decades, serving three terms as prime minister
• Her son Tarique Rahman now leads the BNP and is seen as a future PM candidate

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Former Bangladesh prime minister, the country’s first female head of government, and long-time Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia died early Tuesday while undergoing medical treatment in Dhaka, her party confirmed. She was 80.

Khaleda Zia passed away at 6 am at the capital’s Apollo Hospital, according to A.K.M. Wahiduzzaman, BNP’s ICT Affairs Secretary and head of its Online Activists Network. The BNP Media Cell later confirmed the news through its verified Facebook page.

Senior party leaders said her condition deteriorated sharply overnight. BNP standing committee member Dr Zahid Hossain had earlier told reporters that she was passing through “an extremely critical phase.”

Her son Tarique Rahman, along with close family members including Zubaida Rahman and Zaima Rahman, visited her late Monday night and left shortly before 2 am, party sources said.

Who was Begum Khaleda Zia?

Born in 1945 in Jalpaiguri in undivided Bengal, Khaleda Zia emerged as one of the most powerful and polarising figures in Bangladesh’s post-independence politics. She served as prime minister three times and led the BNP for four decades, shaping the country’s political trajectory alongside her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina.

At the time, Zia was described as a "shy housewife" devoted to their two sons.

Khaleda officially assumed leadership of the BNP in 1984, at a time when the party was struggling after the assassination of its founder, her husband Ziaur Rahman. Much like Hasina did with the Awami League, Khaleda helped galvanise a fractured organisation into a mass political force.

The ‘Battle of Begums’ and the anti-Ershad movement

During the 1980s, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, often referred to as the “two Begums”, led parallel struggles against the military rule of Hussain Muhammad Ershad. Both were thrust into politics following the brutal killing of their family members.

Despite big ideological differences, the two leaders eventually joined hands against Ershad’s authoritarian regime. Political scientist Shehabuddin described this rare collaboration as one that “stands out as one of the few examples of inter-party cooperation in Bangladesh.”

Ershad was ousted in 1990 following months of street protests in Dhaka. Elections held under a neutral caretaker government in 1991 brought the BNP to power, making Khaleda Zia prime minister for the first time, and the first woman to hold the post in Bangladesh.

Khaleda Zia’s two full terms as prime minister

Khaleda Zia served two full terms as prime minister, from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. During her tenure, she sought to uphold the political legacy of her late husband, emphasising a role for Islam in the state, encouraging private enterprise, and promoting market-oriented economic reforms.

Her first term was marked by education reforms credited with improving literacy levels, economic measures that boosted foreign investment, and the continuation of village-level administrative reforms introduced under Ziaur Rahman.

Her second term, however, proved more controversial. The BNP entered into alliances with hardline Islamist parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote, as well as Ershad’s Jatiya Party. The coalition delivered a two-thirds parliamentary majority but pushed the government further to the right.

Political scientist Mohiuddin noted that “The BNP stressed the importance of ties with the United States, China, and Arab countries, while preferring to distance itself from India.” Khaleda also reinforced the BNP’s position “as a defender of Islamic Bengal, unique from its mostly Hindu counterpart in India, West Bengal.”

During this period, Bangladesh’s relations with India deteriorated, with issues such as cross-border militancy and water-sharing emerging as major flashpoints.

Fall of Begum Zia from power

Khaleda Zia’s later years in politics were marked by institutional battles and legal challenges. In 2006–07, she attempted to influence the interim government ahead of elections, triggering political turmoil.

She was decisively defeated by Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League in the 2008 elections. In 2018, Khaleda was sentenced to 17 years in prison on graft charges under Hasina’s government, a case the BNP has consistently described as politically motivated.

The long-running rivalry between Khaleda and Hasina, rooted partly in the 1975 assassination of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, came to be known as the “Battle of Begums”, a defining feature of Bangladesh’s political history.

Ziaur Rahman: Soldier, president, and BNP founder

Khaleda Zia’s political journey is inseparable from that of her husband, Ziaur Rahman. A decorated military officer, Ziaur Rahman, played a key role in Bangladesh’s Liberation War and later became president, serving from 1977 until his assassination in 1981.

Zia founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1978 and positioned it as a nationalist, centre-right alternative to the Awami League. His assassination by army officers propelled Khaleda into public life, eventually leading her to take charge of the BNP in 1984.

Tarique Rahman and the Zia family’s political legacy

Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman has emerged as the next political standard-bearer of the Zia family. After spending 17 years in self-imposed exile, Tarique returned to Dhaka in December, marking a new chapter for the BNP.

Now the party’s de facto leader, Tarique Rahman, is widely seen as the frontrunner in the upcoming national elections and a potential future prime minister. His return has reinvigorated the BNP’s organisational base ahead of a crucial political contest.

Begum Zia's legacy 

Khaleda Zia leaves behind a complex legacy, one marked by democratic mobilisation, intense rivalry, institutional conflict, and enduring public influence. For more than three decades, she remained at the centre of Bangladesh’s political life, shaping debates over democracy, religion, governance, and foreign policy.

As tributes pour in from across the political spectrum, Bangladesh reflects on the life of a leader whose rise, rule, and rivalry defined an era.