Dhaka, Bangladesh: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia died early Tuesday in Dhaka at age 80. She has been struggling with liver cirrhosis, diabetes, arthritis, and heart issues among other age-related ailments.
Announcing her death, her opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) issued a statement that the former PM died just after the Subah (Down) prayer.
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Following her husband, Ziaur Rahman’s assassination in 1981, Zia served as prime minister from 1991-1996, briefly in 1996, and 2001-2006, while locked in a decades-long rivalry with ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She was freed from the prison in 2024 after Sheikh Hasina’s fleeing. Zia’s funeral to will be held on Wednesday and she will be buried beside late husband. A 3-day mourning has been declared in the country.
Prime Minister Modi expressed his condolence to the family and 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,” PM Modi wrote on X, while recalling his “warm meeting with Zia in 2015.
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… pic.twitter.com/BLg6K52vak
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 30, 2025
