Political journey of legendary leader Khaleda Zia

Bangladesh's first female Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia breathed her last at 6 am on Tuesday (December 30). Her passport states her birth year as 1946.

In the book titled 'Nandito Netri: Khaleda Zia', former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Deputy Press Secretary Syed Abdal Ahmed mentioned that she was born on August 15, 1945 in the Nayabasti area of ​​Jalpaiguri of West Bengal, in the undivided Indian subcontinent.

The foreword to the book was written by the late Professor Emajuddin Ahmed.

According to BNP party sources and her biographies, Khaleda Zia's family name was Khaleda Khanam. Her nickname was Putul. Her other family nicknames were - Tipsy, Shanti. Doctor Abniguh Niyogi, a friend of father Iskander Majumdar, named the newly born daughter 'Shanti'. The World War II just ended. A few days earlier, the American atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan. There were peace marches in various places, including India, and amidst this desire of people, the name of the newly born baby girl became 'Shanti'. Later, the name 'Putul' given by her middle sister Selina Islam became Khaleda Zia's nickname.

Khaleda Zia's native place is in Fulgazi Upazila of Feni. Her father's name is Iskander Majumdar and mother Begum Taiba Majumdar. Khaleda Zia is the third among three sisters (Khurshid Jahan Haque Chocolate, Selina Islam Beauty and Khaleda Khanam Putul) and two brothers (Major Saeed Iskander and Shamim Iskander). Among them, one sister Selina Rahman and brother Shamim Iskandar are alive. She is the mother of two children, Tarique Rahman Pino and the late Arafat Rahman Coco.

Khaleda Zia spent half her life as the bride of her husband Ziaur Rahman. She joined the BNP on January 3, 1982. In March 1983, she became the Senior Vice Chairman of the BNP. On April 1, 1983, she gave her first speech at the extended meeting of the party. When Justice Sattar fell ill, she served as the acting chairperson of the BNP.

Khaleda Zia was elected chairperson of the party on May 10, 1984. She was elected Prime Minister in 1991, 1996 and 2001. The second term of office was for one month. Khaleda Zia and her party BNP won the 1991 general election. That same year, Begum Zia became the Prime Minister for the first time in the Fifth Parliament.

Under her leadership, the twelfth amendment to the constitution introduced a parliamentary democratic system of government from a presidential system of government. She was the Prime Minister of the Sixth Parliament for a month after the February 15, 1996 elections. After the establishment of a non-partisan caretaker government system, Khaleda Zia's party BNP lost the seventh parliamentary election that year, and she became the main opposition leader.

In 1999, Khaleda Zia participated in the elections under the banner of the four-party Oikya Jote, and was elected Prime Minister for the third time in 2001.

After the 2008 elections, Khaleda Zia became the Leader of the Opposition. She was sent to prison in 2018 after being sentenced to five years in a lower court in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case filed during the Moin Uddin and Fakhruddin governments that were discussed during 1/11. She was kept in an abandoned prison in Old Dhaka under special arrangements. Then on April 1 of that year, she was admitted to Bangladesh Medical University. Later, the High Court increased the sentence of the lower court to 10 years.

Almost two years later, on March 25, 2020, Khaleda Zia was conditionally released for six months on the basis of a family application during the coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh and around the world. Then, the former government extended her release period by six months in stages.

Begum Khaleda Zia was released by the President's order the day after ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina left the country in the mass uprising on August 5.

In 2014, she boycotted the 10th National Parliament election. At the same time, most political parties abstained from the election that year. During the 11th National Parliament election on December 31, 2018, when Khaleda Zia was in prison, BNP participated in the election by coordinating with the Jatiya Oikya Front and the 20-party alliance. Khaleda Zia could not participate in that election as she was in prison as a convicted defendant. Even none of the Zia family members participated in this election.

Her party did not participate in the 12th National Parliament election held on January 7, 2024. Begum Zia last visited the Rohingya camp on October 30, 2017. Khaleda Zia distributed 48 trucks of relief there through the army.

Khaleda Zia held her last press conference on February 7, 2018, before going to prison following the verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust case. She last held a rally in 2017.