On Tuesday, December thirtieth, Bangladesh misplaced one in every of its strongest political figures. Khaleda Zia, the nation’s first lady Prime Minister, handed away at 80 after battling a number of well being issues together with liver illness, diabetes, and coronary heart problems. Her demise marks the top of an period in Bangladeshi politics, however her affect will echo for generations.
Who was Khaleda Zia? To grasp her, we should first perceive the household she married into—the Zia household, which formed Bangladesh’s future after independence.
Khaleda was born as Khaleda Khanam “Putul” in 1945 in Feni, to a tea dealer’s household. At simply 15, she married Ziaur Rahman, a younger military officer who would later change into one in every of Bangladesh’s most vital leaders. For almost twenty years, she stayed away from politics, quietly elevating their two sons—Tarique and Arafat Rahman—whereas her husband rose to energy.
Her husband, Ziaur Rahman, was a struggle hero who fought for Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. After main insurgent forces towards Pakistan, he ultimately turned the nation’s chief from 1975 to 1981. He based the Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP) and launched insurance policies that emphasised Islamic identification alongside financial improvement. However his rule ended abruptly on March 30, 1981, when disgruntled military officers assassinated him.
Every little thing modified for Khaleda in a single day. She by no means wished to enter politics, as she later admitted. However celebration leaders and public stress pushed her ahead. The BNP had no robust chief left—Zia had constructed such a dominant picture that no one might fill his footwear. With navy ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad cracking down on opposition, the celebration desperately wanted somebody who might rally assist.
Khaleda formally took cost of the BNP in 1984. Across the identical time, Sheikh Hasina—daughter of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman—had taken over the Awami League. These two ladies, each thrust into politics by household tragedies, would outline Bangladesh’s political panorama for many years. Folks known as them the “battling Begums.”
All through the Nineteen Eighties, Khaleda and Hasina led large avenue actions towards Ershad’s authoritarian rule. Regardless of their variations, they sometimes united towards their frequent enemy. In 1990, months of protests lastly compelled Ershad out—very similar to the 2024 rebellion that eliminated Hasina from energy.
In 1991, Bangladesh held elections below a impartial caretaker authorities. The BNP received, and Khaleda turned Prime Minister for the primary time. She was making historical past as Bangladesh’s first lady PM.
Her first time period (1991-96) introduced actual achievements. Schooling reforms dramatically improved literacy charges, which stood at simply 35% when she took workplace. Her financial insurance policies attracted international funding. She strengthened native governance, persevering with her husband’s imaginative and prescient of empowering village-level establishments.
However her second time period (2001-06) revealed her true political ideology—one which positioned India as Bangladesh’s major adversary. This wasn’t simply political posturing; it was a calculated technique that essentially formed regional relations.
Additionally Learn: Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion Chairperson Khaleda Zia Dies At 80 In Dhaka After Extended Sickness
To win a powerful parliamentary majority, Khaleda allied with hardline Islamist teams, together with Jamaat-e-Islami—the very celebration that had opposed Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 and supported Pakistan. This alliance got here with a value: a sharply anti-India international coverage that served Pakistan’s pursuits.
Below Khaleda’s authorities, Bangladesh turned a secure haven for anti-India militant and separatist teams. These organizations used Bangladeshi territory as launching pads for violent assaults in India’s Northeast states, making a severe safety disaster. India repeatedly protested, however Khaleda’s authorities turned a blind eye.
The BNP actively promoted anti-India sentiment as a core a part of its identification. Khaleda intentionally offered the BNP because the protector of “Islamic Bengal,” contrasting it with India’s West Bengal, which she described as Hindu-dominated. This wasn’t simply rhetoric—it was coverage. Her authorities inspired nearer ties with Pakistan, calling it an “Islamic brother nation,” whereas portray India because the enemy.
Water-sharing disputes escalated dramatically throughout her tenure. The Teesta River challenge and different cross-border water conflicts remained unresolved as her authorities refused significant negotiation with New Delhi. Each disagreement was framed as Indian aggression towards Bangladesh’s sovereignty.
Jamaat leaders, now mainstream politicians in her coalition, overtly advocated strengthening bonds with Pakistan whereas opposing cooperation with India. This represented a shocking reversal—the nation born from Pakistan’s oppression was now embracing its former oppressor whereas antagonizing the neighbor that had helped liberate it in 1971.
Political analysts word that anti-India messaging had lengthy been a part of BNP ideology, however Khaleda weaponized it to differentiate her celebration from the Awami League, which she accused of being “India’s puppet.” This polarized Bangladesh’s international coverage right into a false alternative: both you stood with Islamic Pakistan otherwise you had been India’s agent.
In 2006-07, Khaleda tried manipulating the caretaker authorities system earlier than elections. The technique backfired. In 2008, Sheikh Hasina defeated her decisively and spent the subsequent 15 years systematically weakening the BNP via corruption costs, arrests, and authorized instances.
Khaleda’s well being deteriorated from 2010 onward. When protests erupted towards Hasina in August 2024, Khaleda—although she welcomed the “revolution”—was too sick to return to politics. Her son Tarique Rahman, who returned from exile simply 5 days earlier than her demise on December twenty fifth, now carries the household’s political torch.
As Bangladesh mourns Khaleda Zia in the present day, her legacy stays deeply controversial. She broke boundaries as the primary lady Prime Minister in a conservative society and stood agency towards navy dictatorship. However she additionally legitimized those that opposed Bangladesh’s independence, turned anti-India sentiment into state coverage, and allowed militants to function freely from Bangladeshi soil.
Her political decisions remind us that management is not nearly breaking glass ceilings—it is about what you construct afterward. Khaleda constructed a politics of non secular identification and regional antagonism that also shapes Bangladesh in the present day. Whether or not that is a legacy to honor or overcome stays Bangladesh’s query to reply.
(Girish Linganna is a Defence, Aerospace & Geopolitical Analyst. He’s the Managing Director of ADD Engineering Elements India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany.)