Khaleda Zia, revered chairperson of Bangladesh’s Nationalist Party (BNP) and former two-term Prime Minister, died on 30 December 2025 at 6:00 a.m. in Dhaka’s Apollo Hospital, succumbing to prolonged illnesses including heart and lung infections, liver cirrhosis, diabetes, arthritis, kidney issues, and respiratory complications following a 36-day hospitalisation since 23 November.
BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, her son exiled in London, announced the news via social media, stating she passed shortly after Fajr prayer, while party leaders like Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged supporters to remain resilient; no immediate statements from rival Awami League or interim government officials, though the event who led BNP for decades, what ended her rivalry era, when at dawn today, where in Dhaka, why from multi-organ failure, and how after ventilation ushers potential shifts ahead of 2026 polls amid BNP’s revival post-2024 uprising.
A Towering Figure’s Final Struggle
Begum Khaleda Zia, as she was affectionately known, had been frail for years, her health a barometer of Bangladesh’s political fortunes. Admitted initially to Evercare Hospital before transfer to Apollo on 23 November, she was placed on mechanical ventilation amid “very critical” condition, with BNP leaders publicly appealing for national prayers and advanced treatment access.
Tarique Rahman, posting on X (formerly Twitter), captured the moment poignantly: “Our Amma, Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6:00 a.m., shortly after the Fajr prayer.
I request everyone to pray for her eternal peace.” Party spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul echoed this, affirming Tarique’s readiness to lead, saying, “Tarique Rahman is capable of taking responsibility,” amid reports of her battling a cocktail of ailments from diabetes to liver cirrhosis exacerbated by years of house arrest.
Zia’s journey to power was historic: Bangladesh’s first female Prime Minister in 1991, she served until 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006, pioneering economic liberalisation, women’s empowerment initiatives, and infrastructure drives that lifted millions from poverty.
Yet her tenure was shadowed by fierce confrontations, including hartals (strikes) and clashes with the Awami League. Supporters thronged her Gulshan residence post-announcement, laying flowers and reciting prayers, humanising a leader whose resilience mirrored the struggles of ordinary Bangladeshis widowed young, jailed repeatedly, yet unbowed.
Decades of Rivalry and Resilience
Khaleda Zia’s political odyssey began in tragedy: her husband, Ziaur Rahman, founder of BNP and President, was assassinated in 1981, propelling her from homemaker to heir of his Islamist-tinged nationalist vision.
Rising through BNP ranks, she toppled military rule in 1991, only to face a venomous rivalry with Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Their “duopoly” dominated politics for over three decades, characterised by alternating governments marred by corruption allegations, caretaker system abolitions, and violent protests Zia’s BNP accused Hasina’s Awami League of rigging 2014 and 2018 elections, leading to her 2018 arrest on graft charges she dismissed as “vendettas.”
Over 18 years in detention followed, including house arrest from 2020, with brief bail in August 2024 after the student-led uprising ousted Hasina in August 2024, installing an interim Yunus-led government.
Acquittals in major cases by November 2024 freed her politically, but physically, she remained a shadow reports from September 2024 noted her “deathbed” state due to denied advanced care.
Her passing spotlights BNP’s resurgence: Tarique Rahman, despite exile, steers from London, positioning the party against Awami League’s ban and Islamist surges like Jamaat-e-Islami. Security tightened nationwide, with funerals slated amid calls for unity, as analysts predict realignments BNP eyes 2026 polls, but divisions persist in a nation reeling from floods, economic woes, and quota protests.
Echoes of Division in a Fractured Nation
Zia’s death revives memories of pivotal moments: the 1990 anti-Ershad revolution she backed, 2007 army-backed emergency rule that jailed her alongside Hasina, and 1/11 (2007) as a brief truce.
Post-2024, Bangladesh grapples with Hasina’s ouster, Rohingya crisis strains, and economic dips her era’s privatisation spurred GDP growth from 3.6% in 1991 to over 6% by 2006, yet inequality and militancy accusations lingered.
Global figures offered condolences; Indian PM Narendra Modi reportedly extended sympathies, mindful of Delhi’s balancing act between BNP’s pro-India leanings and Hasina’s tenure. Locally, students who toppled Hasina now face BNP-Awami crossfire, with her demise potentially galvanising opposition unity or deepening chaos.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Khaleda Zia’s life, forged in loss and tempered by unyielding rivalry, exemplifies how personal vendettas eclipse collective good, leaving Bangladesh’s democracy battered yet resilient.
At The Logical Indian, we advocate peace, dialogue, kindness, empathy, harmony, and coexistence urging her successors, from Tarique Rahman to interim leaders, to transcend the Hasina-Zia binary that cost lives and livelihoods, embracing inclusive reforms for sustainable growth, women’s rights, and youth aspirations. True tribute lies not in mourning divisions but building bridges toward unity.
