Tag: Bangladesh

Khaleda Zia, the first woman to serve as prime minister of Bangladesh, has passed away on 30 December in Dhaka after months of deteriorating health.

Before entering politics, Khaleda was primarily a homemaker, devoted to raising her two sons while her husband, Ziaur Rahman, a prominent figure in Bangladesh’s independence movement, rose through the military ranks. He became president in 1977. At that time, Khaleda was described as a reserved and family-focused figure.

Following Ziaur Rahman’s assassination in 1981 by army officers in Chittagong, Khaleda took the reins of his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). She went on to serve as prime minister twice- first in the early 1990s and again in the early 2000s.

Born in 1945 in West Bengal, Khaleda was the daughter of a tea merchant. Her family moved to what is now Bangladesh following the 1947 partition of India.

 At 15, she married Ziaur Rahman, who assumed the presidency after the military relinquished power in 1977, overseeing a return to political activity and a freer media environment. His tenure was marked by repeated coup attempts, often suppressed with extreme force.

Prior to her husband’s death, Khaleda had maintained a low public profile. But after 1981, she became actively involved in the BNP, rising to vice-chairperson and eventually party leader.


During the nine-year military rule that began in 1982, Khaleda organised campaigns advocating for democratic reforms.

 She rejected participation in the army-controlled elections and was placed under house arrest, yet continued to orchestrate rallies and civic actions that ultimately forced the military to concede.

In 1991, Khaleda Zia led the BNP to victory in the first post-military general elections, becoming the country’s first female prime minister and only the second woman to govern a Muslim-majority nation democratically, following Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto. 

She absorbed significant powers formerly held by the presidency and introduced reforms, including making primary education free and compulsory, at a time when most children received only two years of schooling on average.

She lost the 1996 election to Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League but returned in 2001 with an alliance of Islamist parties, securing nearly two-thirds of parliamentary seats.

Khaleda stepped down in October 2006 ahead of scheduled elections, but political unrest and riots prompted military intervention, delaying the vote. The interim government launched a crackdown on high-level corruption, targeting leaders across political lines.

Both Khaleda and her longtime rival Sheikh Hasina faced arrests. Khaleda was placed under house arrest and later imprisoned on charges of extortion and corruption. 

Her legal battles continued over the following years, including a 2011 case involving alleged misuse of funds for a charitable trust named after her late husband.

In 2014, BNP supporters boycotted national elections, citing potential rigging, and widespread arrests of party activists followed. Khaleda herself was confined and barred from organising protests, describing the government as “disconnected” from its people.

In 2018, she was convicted of embezzling roughly $252,000 intended for an orphanage trust and sentenced to five years in prison, which barred her from holding public office. She denied any wrongdoing, describing the charges as politically motivated.

Her health deteriorated while in detention. She was hospitalised in 2019 for severe arthritis and uncontrolled diabetes, and later released to house arrest.

The 2024 popular uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government led to Khaleda’s release and the unfreezing of her assets. 

By this point, she was struggling with serious medical conditions, including cirrhosis of the liver and kidney damage. In January 2025, her travel restrictions were lifted, allowing her to seek treatment in London, though her health remained precarious.

Khaleda Zia’s death marks the end of a complex and often turbulent political career that spanned more than four decades, defined by fierce rivalry, imprisonment, and enduring influence over Bangladesh’s political landscape.


She is survived by her elder son, Tarique Rahman, who returned to Bangladesh in late December after years in exile in London, is widely expected to lead the party in future elections. Khaleda’s younger son, “Koko,” died in 2015.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened by Khaleda’s death.

“Her lifelong service to Bangladesh and its growth and development leaves a lasting legacy,” he said.

“Begum Zia was a committed friend of Pakistan. My government and the people of Pakistan stand with the people of Bangladesh in this moment of sorrow,” he added.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and the people of Bangladesh during this difficult time,” Sharif said.
President Asif Ali Zardari said Khaleda’s “leadership and services will be remembered with respect”.

Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister and deputy prime minister, also sent his condolences for Khaleda’s passing.

Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a prominent leader of Bangladesh’s 2024 student-led uprising, who was flown to Singapore after being critically wounded in an assassination attempt, has died, Singaporean authorities have confirmed.

“Despite the best efforts of the doctors… Hadi succumbed to his injuries,” Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, confirming his death after days of intensive medical treatment.

Hadi, 32, was shot in the head on December 12 while traveling in a battery-powered autorickshaw in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, according to local media.

The student leader was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital after the shooter opened fire from a motorcycle and fled the scene.

Local physicians told the newspaper that Hadi’s brain stem had been damaged. As his condition deteriorated, he was evacuated to Singapore on December 15 and admitted to the neurosurgical intensive care unit at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) for advanced treatment.

Hadi was a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha – platform for revolution – who had emerged as a key figure during the 2024 uprising. 

Additionally, he was being regarded as a possible independent candidate for the Dhaka-8 constituency in the February national elections.

Known for his vocal criticism of India, Hadi’s political profile increased dramatically in recent months as Bangladesh experienced political turmoil after Sheikh Hasina’s removal. The former premier remains in self-imposed exile in India.

Announcing his death on Facebook late Thursday, Inqilab Mancha described him as a martyr. “In the struggle against Indian hegemony, Allah has accepted the great revolutionary Osman Hadi as a martyr,” the group said.

Police have launched a large-scale hunt for those involved in the shooting, releasing photographs of two key suspects and announcing a reward of five million taka (approximately $42,000) for information leading to their arrest. 

According to a Bangladeshi newspaper, at least 20 people linked to the incident have been arrested so far, though investigations into the murder remain ongoing.

The killing triggered immediate political condemnation and expressions of grief across the country. Bangladesh’s interim government head Muhammad Yunus said Hadi’s death “is an irreparable loss for the nation”.

“The country’s march towards democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed,” Yunus said in a televised address on Thursday.

The government declared a half-day of national mourning on Saturday and organised special prayers at mosques following Friday prayers. Condolence messages were also released by political parties.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of Inqilab Manch and independent candidate for Dhaka-8 constituency,” Bangladesh National Party (BNP) acting chairman Tareq Rahman said in a Facebook post.

In a separate press statement, the National Citizen Party (NCP) said it was “deeply saddened” by Hadi’s death, and extended condolences to his family.

Within hours of learning of Hadi’s passing, protests erupted in Dhaka and other cities throughout Bangladesh. Hundreds of protesters went to the streets to express their outrage over what they claimed was a politically motivated murder.

Bangladeshi students who led last year’s protests, leading to the removal of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, are set to launch a political party this week, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reports.

The Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group spearheaded the protests that began as a student-led movement against public sector job quotas but quickly morphed into a broader, nationwide uprising that forced Hasina to flee to India as the unrest peaked in early August.

The student group is finalising plans to launch the new party during an event likely on Wednesday, said the sources who did not want to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Nahid Islam, a student leader and adviser to the interim government that took charge of Bangladesh after Hasina’s exit, is expected to lead the party as convener, the sources said.

Islam has been a key figure in advocating for student interests within the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has been at the helm of Bangladesh since August 2024.

He is expected to resign from his current role to focus on leading the new political party.

Islam did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Yunus has said that elections could be held by the end of 2025, and many political analysts believe that a youth-led party could significantly reshape the country’s political landscape.

Yunus has said he was not interested in running.

Yunus’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the launch of the student-led political party.

The South Asian nation has been grappling with political unrest since Hasina left following weeks of protests during which more than 1,000 people were killed.

Officials from Hasina’s former government and security apparatus systematically committed serious human rights violations against the protesters during the uprising, the UN Human Rights Commission said this month.

Bangladesh arrests thousands as crime surges

Bangladeshi security forces have arrested more than 8,600 people after a two-week crackdown targeting gangs allegedly connected to the ousted government of Sheikh Hasina, the government said on Monday.

The arrests come as concern grows at rising crime levels in the capital, with police saying that the number of robberies has doubled since January last year.

Dhaka (AFP) – Hundreds of Bangladeshi protesters smashed down buildings connected to ousted former leader Sheikh Hasina on Thursday, hours after students with excavators began demolishing a museum to her father.

The museum and former of home of Hasina’s late father, Bangladesh’s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had been set on fire last year during the student-led revolution that ended her 15 years of autocratic rule.

Late Wednesday, six months to the day since Hasina fled by helicopter to old ally India on August 5, crowds carrying hammers and metal rods began beating down the walls of the building in the capital Dhaka.

Protests were triggered in response to reports that 77-year-old Hasina — who has defied an arrest warrant to face trial in Dhaka for massacres — would appear in a Facebook broadcast from exile.

On Thursday morning, diggers were being used to knock down the remaining fire-blackened walls.

Protesters also vandalised and torched other houses across the country linked to Hasina, including an arson attack on the Dhaka house of Hasina’s late husband.

Prothom Alo, the largest Bengali daily, reported crowds used government-owned excavators to smash down a building owned by Hasina’s family in the city of Khulna.

 

Vandalised homes

In the western city of Kushtia, protesters vandalised the house of a leader of Hasina’s Awami League party, Mahbubul Alam Hanif.