In history, Khaleda Zia loomed large. So will her shadow over Bangladesh’s future

Khaleda is survived by her son Tarique Rahman who returned to Bangladesh on December 25 from his self-imposed UK exile of 17 years and, as acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is set to lead the party to the polls.

Modi posted on X, “Deeply saddened to learn about the passing away of former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in Dhaka. Our sincerest condolences to her family and all the people of Bangladesh. May the Almighty grant her family the fortitude to bear this tragic loss.”

“As the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh, her important contributions towards the development of Bangladesh, as well as India-Bangladesh relations, will always be remembered,” he said, adding that “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.”

The Ministry of External Affairs said, in a statement that Minister S. Jaishankar will represent the Government and people of India at the funeral in Dhaka on Wednesday.

How Khaleda oversaw downturn in relations with India

Begum Zia, as she was popularly known, served as prime minister between 1991 and 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006. She had a complex and often contentious relationship with India. Her years in office coincided with intense, polarising and ideological battles within Bangladesh and shifting equations with New Delhi as she interacted with three Indian prime ministers: P.V. Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

Her second term, in particular, left bitter memories in India. Between 2001 and 2006, anti-India terrorist outfits and insurgent groups targeting India’s Northeast found space in Bangladesh, after Zia joined hands with the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami. This period severely strained ties, a contrast to the warming of relations after Sheikh Hasina’s return to power in 2008, when Dhaka cracked down on such groups.

Born into Bangladesh’s founding political lineage through marriage, Zia was the wife of Ziaur Rahman, who became President in 1977 after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975. Following Ziaur Rahman’s own assassination in 1981, she entered politics and took over the leadership of the BNP in 1984.

A political novice, she led the movement against General Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s military-led government, which came to power in 1982, and protested for the restoration of democracy.

At this point, after leading the struggle against the military-led government for about eight years, she demonstrated strategic political thinking by joining hands with her arch rival, Hasina, to oust Ershad. Their rivalry resumed later and became legendary as the “Battle of the Begums.”

She won the 1991 elections and became prime minister for the first time, presided over the transition from a presidential to a parliamentary system of governance, introduced the value-added tax (VAT) in 1991, made secondary education free for girls in rural areas, and institutionalised the caretaker government system.

But there were allegations that her government was run by her son Tarique Rahman between 2001 and 2006, at the infamous Hawa Bhaban.

Zia also navigated the undercurrents of Hindu-Muslim politics in India, as she was in power when the Babri Masjid demolition took place in 1992 and during the Gujarat riots in 2002.

This reporter met Zia for an interview at the BNP’s office in June 2014 — when she was leading the Opposition — within a month of the PM Narendra Modi-led government being sworn in. This was during the visit of India’s then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Zia had also met her.

In the interview conducted well past midnight —she was famously known to be a late-riser and used to do her meetings from afternoon till late night — Zia told The Indian Express, “When the Babri Masjid demolition took place, I was PM, and I immediately clamped down on elements trying to incite communal tension in the country. We blocked TV coverage of the demolition. My ministers spent sleepless nights guarding the Hindu community.”

That was her pitch towards the new Indian government, as she met Modi a year later during his first visit to Bangladesh. When asked about her assessment of the Modi government, she was diplomatic.

“It is too early to make any definite judgment. It is again up to the people of India to make that judgment. However, any change raises hope for something better. Our interest is to see what happens in the area of our bilateral relations and in the region as a whole… His government’s focus on building relations with people in neighbouring countries and not just with any particular political party is a significant change,” she said.

The turning point

If Zia’s rare moment of political unity in 1990 with Hasina changed the arc of Bangladesh and her fate as the first woman PM, her decision in 2013 to boycott the polls, since Hasina did not conduct the elections under the caretaker government, was seen as a “political blunder” by many of her colleagues and analysts in Bangladesh.

Her party enjoyed popular support in a political landscape where Bangladesh used to give both parties, Awami League and the BNP, a shot at power. Her boycott meant she remained in the Opposition as Hasina tightened her grip on power thereafter and defeated the BNP in 2018 and 2024 in what are called “rigged” elections.

Zia’s BNP came under intense attack and scrutiny from the Hasina regime over the next 10 years, from 2014 to 2024, where she, along with many of the BNP leaders and activists, was imprisoned. They were denied space and permission to even hold protest demonstrations against the government’s policies.

In 2018, she was sentenced to prison on corruption charges involving the Zia Orphanage Trust and was housed in the abandoned Old Dhaka Central Jail. Even after a conditional release in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the ailing leader remained confined to her home in Gulshan.

In August 2024, when Hasina’s regime collapsed after protests by students and backed by the BNP and Jamaat activists, she made a call for “rejecting the politics of vengeance”.

Her son Tarique Rahman returned to Dhaka on December 25, as her health deteriorated in the last few weeks.

In her interview with The Indian Express, she countered the perception that in Bangladesh, two families have dominated politics, and wondered whether that would continue in the years to come.

“This is not correct. Families are respected because Mujibur Rahman had a contribution, Ziaur Rahman had a contribution. From there, people have faith in them… Look, this is not just about politics — a barrister’s son becomes a barrister, a doctor’s son becomes a doctor, a businessman’s son becomes a businessman. So, politicians generate that interest in their family members. And then, it comes to the people — whom do they accept, that is the key. If they don’t accept, they will be out,” was Zia’s sharp response. Words that could well be her parting wisdom for her son Tarique.