Khaleda Zia: Bangladesh's Former Prime Minister and Political Leader
Khaleda Zia, born in 1945 in West Bengal, moved to what is now Bangladesh and married Ziaur Rahman at the age of 15. Following Bangladesh's independence, her husband became president. After his assassination in 1981, Khaleda Zia rose to prominence leading the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and organizing mass rallies against military rule to restore democracy.
She served as Bangladesh's first female prime minister in two terms, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. During her leadership, she introduced free and mandatory primary education and supported a constitutional amendment reserving 45 parliamentary seats for women. Her administration in 2001 formed a BNP-led alliance with Islamist parties, winning about two-thirds of the seats. She was a strong advocate for female education in a country where female illiteracy was about 70%.
Khaleda Zia lost the 1996 election to Sheikh Hasina but regained power in 2001. She stepped down in October 2006 amid a political crisis, after which an interim government launched a crackdown on corruption. In 2007, Khaleda Zia was arrested on charges of extortion and corruption and later placed under house arrest. Restrictions on her were eased in 2008, allowing her to contest elections. In 2011, the Anti-Corruption Commission accused her of undisclosed income linked to a charity. She was jailed in 2018 for allegedly embezzling approximately $252,000 from an orphanage trust but was released on health grounds.
Following a 2024 uprising which resulted in the ousting of Sheikh Hasina's government, charges against Khaleda Zia were dropped, her bank accounts unfrozen, and she received treatment abroad. Travel restrictions against her were lifted in January 2025. Khaleda Zia died in 2025 at the age of 80.
