Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia passes away at 80

Dhaka (The Uttam Hindu): Amid ongoing political uncertainty, former Bangladesh Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia has passed away. She breathed her last while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. She was 80 and had been battling multiple serious illnesses for a long time.

The BNP confirmed Khaleda Zia’s death through a post on social media platform X. According to the party, doctors declared her dead at around 6 a.m. Her condition had remained critical for several days, and she was under hospital care.

In a party statement, it was said that her health deteriorated sharply on the night between December 29 and 30. Plans were made to shift her abroad for advanced treatment, and a special aircraft from Qatar had already arrived in Dhaka and was kept on standby at the airport. However, the medical board did not permit her transfer to London due to her fragile condition.

Khaleda Zia was suffering from diabetes, arthritis, liver cirrhosis, and heart-related ailments. As her condition worsened, she was admitted to the ICU and had been on ventilator support for the past few days. Her health declined further late last night, leading to her demise.

Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, the country was moving toward fresh elections under an interim administration. Khaleda Zia was also in the race and had filed her nomination from the Bogura-7 seat on December 29, just hours before her death.

Khaleda Zia was Bangladesh’s first woman Prime Minister. She first assumed office in 1991 and later led the country two more times. After Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, she was the world’s second woman leader to become Prime Minister of a Muslim-majority nation.