Huge crowds mourn Bangladesh’s first female PM at state funeral

Hundreds of thousands of people traveled from across Bangladesh to the capital Dhaka to pay their last respects to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Wednesday.

Zia, the country’s first female prime minister, died on Tuesday due to a long illness. He was 80 years old.

As the convoy carrying Zia’s body (including a hearse draped in the national flag) moved through the streets near the parliament building, mourners held out their hands in prayer and carried flags bearing photographs of Zia.

Flags were lowered to half-mast and thousands of security guards were deployed.

“I came all the way here just to say goodbye. I know I can’t see his face, but at least I could see his face. [vehicle] Setara Sultana, an activist from Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), told the BBC: “I am carrying him for the last rites.”

Sharmina Siraj, a mother of two, called Zia an “inspiration” and said the scholarships the former leader gave to improve women’s education had a “huge impact” on her daughters.

“It’s hard to imagine that women will be in leadership positions anytime soon,” she told news agency AFP.

Among those who attended the funeral were Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Bhutanese Foreign Minister Lyonpo DN Dhungyel.

Earlier in the day, Zia’s body was taken to the home of his son Tariq Rahman, who was seen reading the Quran near his mother’s office.

The state ceremony marks the end of Zia’s extraordinary journey from housewife to Bangladesh’s first female prime minister.

Zia will be buried next to her husband Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated while serving as president in 1981. This incident brought Zia into the political limelight.

He continued to lead the BNP in the country’s first elections in 20 years. He was called an “intransigent leader” for refusing to participate in disputed elections under military leader General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in the 1980s.

For several years, he fought for democracy and against military dictatorship alongside his political rival Sheikh Hasina, enduring arrests.

At that time, there were talks among Bangladesh’s rulers about keeping the two “warring begums” – Zia and Hasina – out of politics through what was then known as the “minus two formula”.

However, Zia became prime minister first in 1991 and then again in 2001.

He was detained in 2007 during the military-backed caretaker government.

Over the last 16 years, under Hasnina’s Awami League government, Zia has emerged as the most prominent symbol of resistance to Hasina’s rule, which many see as increasingly autocratic.

Zia’s resilience has been appreciated by his supporters, who say that despite various personal and political setbacks, years of opposition and convictions under the Hasina government, Zia never gave up, refused to compromise on his principles and stood by his principles.

The fact that hundreds of thousands of people came to his funeral, including those who did not vote for his party, will be seen as a reflection of his popularity among the masses.

Those who worked with him remember a leader who asked probing questions when making important decisions. Economist Dr. As Debapriya Bhattacharya put it, he left a lasting impression as “a political leader who valued ideas and valued informed decision-making.”

He experienced many health problems in the following years. Despite this, the BNP has said it plans to run for parliament in February 2026, when the country will vote for the first time since the popular revolution that unseated Hasina last year.

According to the party’s candidate list announced earlier this month, Zia would contest in three constituencies.

The party aims to return to power, and if this happens, his son is expected to become the country’s new leader. Rahman, 60, returned to Bangladesh only last week after living in self-imposed exile in London for 17 years.

“The country mourns the loss of a guiding presence who shaped its democratic aspirations,” Rahman said in a statement following his mother’s death on Tuesday. he said.