Background
Begum Khaleda Zia passed away at 0600 hours on 30 December 2025, at Dhaka’s Evercare Hospital, where she had been admitted since 23 November 2025. She had been ailing for some time and had been on a ventilator due to advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, chest and heart problems. She was 80 years old. During her final days, Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus called on the nation to pray for her, calling her a “source of utmost inspiration for the nation.”
Begum Zia was married to General Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated during a 1981 coup, when he was the President. She then helped build a mass movement against General Ershad, the military dictator, who was finally ousted in 1990.
She won her first term in 1991 becoming the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Her opponent in that election, and several since, was Sheikh Hasina. Khaleda Zia was criticised over an early 1996 election, in which her party won 278 of the 300 parliamentary seats, during a wide boycott by other leading parties, including Hasina’s Awami League, which demanded an election-time caretaker government. Her government lasted only twelve days before a non-partisan caretaker government was installed and a new election was held that June.
Khaleda returned to power in 2001 in a government shared with the country’s main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, which had a dark past involving Bangladesh’s independence war.
Though Khaleda Zia had been out of power since 2006 and had spent several years in jail or under house arrest, on account of corruption charges for which she had been acquitted by the Supreme Court in January this year, she and the BNP continued to command much support.
Her son and acting Chairman of the party, Tarique Rahman known as ‘the dark Prince’ returned to the country on 25 December after nearly 17 years in self-exile in London, and is widely seen as a strong candidate to becoming the Prime Minister in the elections due in February.
She was buried with state honours beside the grave of her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, at Zia Udyan, near Chandrima Udyan, in Dhaka on 31 December. The External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar represented the Government and people of India at the funeral.
Rise to Power and Legacy
General Ziaur Rahman’s death on 30 May 1981, plunged Bangladesh into deep uncertainty. Although Khaleda had not been politically active during her husband’s presidency, senior BNP leaders saw her as the only figure who could unify the party’s competing factions and preserve his legacy.
After Rahman’s death, Vice President Abdus Sattar became acting President and later won an election. But within months, the Army Chief General HM Ershad seized power in a bloodless coup in March 1982, imposing martial law. It was in this volatile context with the military back in control and political parties fighting for survival – that Khaleda began her ascent, eventually emerging as a central civilian figure challenging hardline rule.
Khaleda joined the BNP as a general member in January 1982, became its Vice Chair in 1983, and was elected Party Chairperson in August 1984. In the decades that followed, she would win three elections.
She governed more as a pragmatist, than a visionary, aware that democracy rests on institutions. Her first term reset the constitutional balance, restoring parliamentary authority through the 12th amendment and reducing the concentration of power in the executive.
Economically, she focused on export-led growth, foreign investment, labour migration, and the expansion of the garment industry. Amongst her most consequential policies, was the nationwide stipend programme for girls’ secondary education.
After Sheikh Hasina consolidated power in 2014 and ruled the country for more than ten years, Khaleda Zia found herself sidelined, imprisoned, and politically constrained. She maintained that the corruption charges brought against her in 2018 were driven by political vendetta rather than truth.
Her fortunes shifted following the student-led uprising in 2024, that brought an abrupt end to Hasina’s rule. Zia was released from detention later that year, and in January 2025, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court cleared her of the final remaining corruption case, effectively restoring her eligibility to contest national elections.
Her public life unfolded alongside personal setbacks; her elder son, Tarique Rahman, went into exile in 2008, after being arrested for corruption while her younger son, Arafat Rahman Koko, died of cardiac arrest in 2015, while living in Malaysia.
While she fought for democracy, against authoritarianism, it was during her premiership, that Bangladesh transitioned into a parliamentary democracy. Her uncompromising style while in opposition, leading election boycotts, and prolonged street movements, combined with recurring allegations of corruption while she was in power, inspired intense loyalty amongst her supporters and equal distrust among her critics.
Mohiuddin Ahmed, a political analyst, wrote, “In the true sense, she was the first Prime Minister of independent Bangladesh to be elected under a neutral government. No one can take this achievement away from her.”
In the preface to the book ‘Begum Khaleda Zia: Her Life and Her Story,’ Mahfuz Ullah wrote: “She established her own distinct political position at a time when a male-dominated society exercised absolute dominance.”
No doubt she was a dominant figure for decades in Bangladesh’s turbulent power struggles. Unfortunately, she was witness once again to the re-emergence of political uncertainty and demise of democracy in Bangladesh.
Return of the Dark Prince
Her son, Tarique Rahman, who had been living in self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom, returned to Bangladesh along with his wife Zubaida Rahaman and daughter Zaima on Christmas, to contest the upcoming elections and to be at the bedside of his mother.
The ‘dark prince’, as his detractors have often claimed, was the de facto boss from 2001 to 2006, when a coalition led by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladeshi, was in power.
Tarique Rahman returned to an ecstatic welcome from lakhs of supporters, many of whom walked long distances, some overnight, to line the streets of Dhaka, waving flags and chanting slogans to support the ‘Prince’. And he returned with echoes of American civil rights activist Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream,’ speech.
“Like him, I want to say, I have a plan for Bangladesh,” Rahman said, while kick starting the BNP’s campaign for the general election on 12 February.
The BNP has been preparing for a return to power, and party leaders have indicated that if the party wins the upcoming election, Tarique Rahman, who filed his nomination papers from Dhaka-17 on 29 December is expected to take on national leadership and become the Prime Minister.
His opposition however will be from people who have become disenchanted with entrenched political dynasties. If BNP wins the restraint on them is likely to be the possibility of another uprising.
Implications for India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over Zia’s death. In a post on X, he noted that as the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Zia’s important contributions towards the development of Bangladesh, as well as India-Bangladesh relations, will always be remembered.
“I recall my warm meeting with her in Dhaka in 2015. We hope that her vision and legacy will continue to guide our partnership. May her soul rest in peace,” he wrote.
However, Khaleda Zia opposed overland transit and connectivity links with India, both as PM and as Leader of the Opposition, a post she held twice from 1996 to 2014. A 2014 report by Bangladeshi newspaper Dhaka Tribune, quoted her as saying transit permission must be balanced by the signing of the Teesta water accord. She also opposed renewal of the 1972 Indo-Bangladesh Friendship Treaty, which many saw as strategically important from a military perspective, arguing, again, it had ‘shackled’ her country.
There were also multiple issues including support for separatist groups such as ULFA and NSCN, who were referred to as ‘freedom fighters’. However, post-2012, after a visit to Delhi, to meet then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a pledge that future BNP governments would act against terrorist groups operating from Bangladeshi soil, to attack Indian targets.
PM Modi met Begum Zia in Dhaka in June 2015, during his visit to Bangladesh. Khaleda Zia was then Leader of the Opposition. The meeting underlined BNP’s intent to engage with Delhi, and Delhi’s desire to broaden ties with Dhaka beyond Sheikh Hasina.
However, given the present state of turmoil in Bangladesh and the anti- India rhetoric that has been building up, it remains to be seen how relations will evolve incase the BNP comes to power being spurred on by a sympathy factor. However, that remains a question mark as the youth are looking for a change beyond the traditional parties.
Unfortunately, Bangladesh is stirring a vicious cauldron of hate towards India, targeting its own minorities, while at the same time is actively courting both China and Pakistan. Given this complicated scenario and the fact that the Awami League will not participate in the elections, out of the possibilities BNP, Jamait, National Citizens Party (NCP), the BNP seems to be the most likely to repair the ties with India. Muhammed Yunus and his supporters have so far not endeared themselves to the masses.
India has consistently extended good-will gestures to the government in Dhaka, but the new government will need to take steps to protect the minorities and respect Indian security concerns.
In the present situation, India has a difficult task ahead. Relations need to mend, in the overall interest of both nations. A give and take, is one option, even though many other options may open, as the emerging power centres become clearer.
Conclusion
News of her death quickly spread across the nation, prompting an outpouring of tributes and reflection on her legacy. Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, expressed deep sorrow over her death and said the “country has lost an experienced and proven stateswoman.” He lauded her leadership, saying, “Through her uncompromising leadership, the nation was repeatedly freed from undemocratic conditions and inspired to regain liberty.”
President Mohammed Shahabuddin said; “The death of Begum Khaleda Zia has caused irreparable loss to the nation.”
In a condolence message posted on X by the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina expressed her deepest condolences and said Khaleda Zia will be remembered ‘for her role in the struggle to establish democracy and that ‘her contributions to the nation were significant.’
Her son Tarique Rahman stated that; “throughout her life, she stood firm against autocracy, fascism, and domination, leading the struggle for freedom, sovereignty, and the restoration of democracy.” He wrote that; “her resilience was not loud, but it was unbreakable.”
For Bangladesh the February elections are crucial as they mark a democratic reset. However, the elections are now going to be marked by the absence of the two Begums who have influenced and dominated its electoral politics over the past few decades. Their absence is certain to reshape the political contest.
Her death no doubt marks the end of an era in Bangladeshi politics, and is expected to have significant political implications. There is no doubt that she leaves behind a legacy inseparable from Bangladesh’s political identity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maj Gen VK Singh, VSM was commissioned into The Scinde Horse in Dec 1983. The officer has commanded an Independent Recce Sqn in the desert sector, and has the distinction of being the first Armoured Corps Officer to command an Assam Rifles Battalion in Counter Insurgency Operations in Manipur and Nagaland, as well as the first General Cadre Officer to command a Strategic Forces Brigade. He then commanded 12 Infantry Division (RAPID) in Western Sector. The General is a fourth generation army officer.
Major General Jagatbir Singh was commissioned into 18 Cavalry in December 1981. During his 38 years of service in the Army he has held various command, staff and instructional appointments and served in varied terrains in the country. He has served in a United Nations Peace Keeping Mission as a Military Observer in Iraq and Kuwait. He has been an instructor to Indian Military Academy and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He is a prolific writer in defence & national security and adept at public speaking.
