If you walked through the streets of Dhaka in early January 2026, you’d have felt a weird, heavy stillness. It wasn't just the winter chill. The passing of Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on December 30, 2025, effectively closed a massive, chaotic chapter in South Asian history. She was 80. Or maybe she wasn't—her age was always a point of fierce debate, much like everything else in her life.
Honestly, it’s hard to overstate how much she mattered. For decades, Bangladesh was basically defined by two women who couldn't stand each other. You had Sheikh Hasina on one side and Khaleda Zia on the other. They called it the "Battle of the Begums." But while Hasina ended up in exile in India after the 2024 uprising, Khaleda stayed. She died in the country she once led, even if her final years were spent mostly between a hospital bed and a form of house arrest.
From Silent Wife to "Uncompromising Leader"
Most people forget that Khaleda Zia didn't actually want to be in politics. She was the wife of Ziaur Rahman, the army chief who became President. When he was assassinated in 1981, she was just a grieving widow. But the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was falling apart. They needed a face, a symbol.
She stepped up.
It wasn't a smooth transition. She spent the 1980s getting arrested over and over again while fighting the military dictatorship of Hussain Muhammad Ershad. This is where she earned the nickname "Aposhhin Netri" or the uncompromising leader. While others were cutting deals, she refused. In 1991, she finally won. She became the first female Bangladesh Prime Minister, a massive deal in a Muslim-majority nation at the time.
Her first term was actually pretty groundbreaking for education.
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- She made primary education free and mandatory.
- She pushed for girls to stay in school until the 10th grade without paying a cent.
- She introduced the Value Added Tax (VAT) to the country.
It sounds boring now, but back then, these were the gears that started turning the economy.
The 2001 Comeback and the Darker Years
Politics in Bangladesh is never just about policy. It’s about survival. After losing power in 1996, Khaleda came roaring back in 2001. This time, she formed a four-party alliance that included the Jamaat-e-Islami. That move still haunts her legacy today.
During this second stint as Bangladesh Prime Minister, the economy actually grew. GDP was up, and foreign investment started trickling in. But there was a massive catch. Corruption went through the roof. For several years in a row, Transparency International ranked Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world.
Then there was the violence. Her government created the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). While they were supposed to fight terrorism, they were quickly accused of extrajudicial killings. It created a culture of fear that, ironically, her political rivals would later use against her own party once the tables turned.
The Prison Years and the Final Decline
By 2018, the script had flipped entirely. Khaleda Zia was sentenced to 17 years for corruption—specifically the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust cases. She called them "politically motivated." Her supporters called them a "sham."
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She spent years in the Old Dhaka Central Jail, a crumbling building where she was often the only prisoner. Her health took a nose dive. We're talking liver cirrhosis, diabetes, heart issues, and arthritis so bad she could barely walk.
By the time 2025 rolled around, she was a shadow of the woman who once commanded millions. Even after the 2024 revolution that ousted Sheikh Hasina and saw Khaleda technically "freed," she was too sick to do much. She spent her final months in Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. There were talks of flying her to London in a specialized air ambulance, but her body just couldn't handle the flight.
What Most People Get Wrong
You’ll hear a lot of people say she was just a "dynastic" leader. That’s a bit of a reach. Yes, she took over her husband's party, but she built her own base through sheer grit during the anti-Ershad movement. She wasn't just handed a crown; she spent years in the mud and the rain protesting for it.
Another misconception? That her time was purely "pro-Pakistan" because of her alliance with Islamist parties. While her foreign policy was definitely different from the Awami League's pro-India stance, she was fiercely nationalistic. She viewed herself as the defender of "Bangladeshi Nationalism" as opposed to "Bengali Nationalism."
Why Her Legacy is "Grey"
It's impossible to paint her in one color.
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- The Good: She truly empowered women through education and gave the rural poor a voice they didn't have before.
- The Bad: She presided over a period of intense political polarization and allowed corruption to become systemic.
- The Reality: She was a product of a very specific, violent era of South Asian politics where you either crushed your opponent or got crushed yourself.
Moving Forward: The BNP Without Khaleda
Now that she’s gone, the BNP is at a massive crossroads. Her son, Tarique Rahman, has been running the party from London for years. But he carries his own heavy baggage and convictions. The party is trying to figure out if it can survive as a "third way" or if it will fall back into the old cycles of revenge politics.
If you’re trying to understand Bangladesh today, you have to look at what she left behind. She wasn't just a politician; she was a symbol of resistance for half the country and a symbol of everything wrong for the other half.
What happens next?
If you’re following the situation, keep an eye on how the BNP handles the upcoming 2026 elections. Without the "Mother of Democracy" (as her fans called her) to rally around, the party has to prove it has more than just a famous name.
You should also watch the ongoing reforms by the interim government. They are trying to dismantle the very systems of corruption and "police state" tactics that both Khaleda and Hasina utilized during their respective reigns. Understanding her story isn't just a history lesson—it's the only way to make sense of the headlines coming out of Dhaka right now.