64 Facts About Khaleda Zia

Khaleda Zia was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second female prime minister in the Muslim world, after Benazir Bhutto.

Khaleda Zia is the widow of former president of Bangladesh and army commander, Ziaur Rahman.

Khaleda Zia has been the chairperson and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party since 1984, which was founded by her husband, Zia, in 1978.

Khaleda Zia became the prime minister following the victory of BNP in 1991 Bangladeshi general election and served as prime minister until 1996.

Khaleda Zia's party came to power again in 2001, and she served as prime minister until 2006.

Khaleda Zia was transferred to a hospital for medical treatment in April 2019.

On 27 November 2024, Khaleda Zia was acquitted in the graft cases.

Khaleda Zia Khanam "Putul" was born in 1945 in Jalpaiguri in the then undivided Dinajpur District in Bengal Presidency, British India, but her ancestral home is in Fulgazi, Feni She was the third of five children of tea businessman father Iskandar Ali Majumder, who was from Fulgazi, Feni District, and mother Taiyaba Majumder, who was from Chandbari.

Khaleda Zia describes herself as "self-educated", and there are no records of her graduating from high school; initially, she attended Dinajpur Missionary School and later Dinajpur Girls' School.

Khaleda Zia reportedly enrolled in Surendranath College in Dinajpur but moved to West Pakistan to stay with her husband in 1965.

Khaleda Zia's husband was deployed as an army officer during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Khaleda Zia's second brother, Shamim Iskandar, is a retired flight engineer of Bangladesh Biman.

Khaleda Zia took charge as vice-chairman of BNP in March 1983.

Khaleda Zia became the Senior Vice-President of BNP by May 1983.

BNP, led by Khaleda Zia, reached an action-based agreement with other political parties to launch a movement against Ershad.

On 30 September 1983, Begum Khaleda Zia led the first major public rally in front of the party office and was hailed by the party workers.

Khaleda Zia's popularity soared after she boycotted the polls in 1986.

Later in that year, on the eve of the 1986 Bangladeshi presidential election, Khaleda Zia was put under house arrest .

Khaleda Zia was put under house arrest multiple times from 1986 to 1990 by Ershad's military government.

Khaleda Zia took the lead on her release and initiated a fresh movement with a view to deposing Ershad.

On 24 January 1987, when Sheikh Hasina joined the parliament session with other Awami League leaders, Khaleda Zia was on the street demanding the dissolution of the parliament.

Khaleda Zia called for a mass rally in Dhaka which turned violent, and top leaders of BNP were arrested.

On 11 December 1987, Khaleda Zia was set free, but she immediately held a press conference and claimed that she was "prepared to die" to depose the dictator.

Begum Khaleda Zia served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh three times.

Khaleda Zia is particularly remembered for her role in making education accessible and introducing some key economic reforms.

Khaleda Zia was sworn in as the country's first female prime minister on 20 March 1991 with the support of a majority of the deputies in parliament.

When Begum Khaleda Zia took charge in 1991, Bangladeshi children received about two years of education on average, and for every three boys, there was one girl studying in the same classroom.

Begum Khaleda Zia promoted education and vocational training very radically.

Khaleda Zia's government made primary education free and mandatory for all.

Some major economic reforms marked the first government of Khaleda Zia, which included the introduction of Value Added Tax, the formulation of the Bank Company Act in 1991 and the Financial Institutions Act in 1993, and the establishment of the privatization board in 1993.

Khaleda Zia was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Khaleda Zia worked on a 100-day programme to fulfil most of her election pledges to the nation.

Khaleda Zia negotiated the settlement of international disputes and renounced the use of force in international relations.

Khaleda Zia's government worked to educate young girls and distribute food to the poor.

Khaleda Zia's government promoted strong GDP growth based on economic reforms and support of an entrepreneurial culture.

When Khaleda Zia became prime minister for the third time, the GDP growth rate of Bangladesh remained above 6 percent.

Khaleda Zia tried to arrange elections and bring all political parties to the table during months of violence; 40 people were killed and hundreds injured in the first month after the government's resignation in November 2006.

Khaleda Zia's India visit was considered notable, as BNP had been considered to have been anti-India compared to its rival Awami League.

At her meeting with Prime Minister Singh, Khaleda Zia said her party wanted to work with India for mutual benefit, including the fight against extremism.

On 2 September, the government filed charges of corruption against Khaleda Zia related to the awarding of contracts to Global Agro Trade Company in 2003.

Khaleda Zia was detained in a makeshift prison on the parliament building premises.

Khaleda Zia challenged this in court, but her appeal was rejected on 10 April 2008.

Khaleda Zia was released on bail on 11 September 2008 from her yearlong detention.

In December 2008, the caretaker government organized general elections where Khaleda Zia's party lost to the Awami League and its Grand Alliance, which took a two-thirds majority of seats in the parliament.

Khaleda Zia's family had been living for 38 years in the 2.72-acre plot house at 6 Shaheed Mainul Road in Dhaka Cantonment.

On 20 April 2009, the Directorate of Military Lands and Cantonments handed a notice asking Khaleda Zia to vacate the cantonment residence.

Khaleda Zia then moved to the residence of her brother, Sayeed Iskandar, in the Gulshan neighbourhood.

Khaleda Zia's party took a stance on not participating in the 2014 Bangladeshi general election unless it was administered under a nonpartisan caretaker government, but the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected the demand.

In 2016, BNP announced its new National Standing Committee, in which Khaleda Zia retained her position as the chairperson.

Khaleda Zia was accused of misappropriating that money by transferring the amount from a public fund to a private one.

On 8 February 2018, during the Awami League government rule, Khaleda Zia was sentenced to prison for five years in that corruption case.

Khaleda Zia's party claimed that the verdict was politically biased.

Khaleda Zia was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail after the verdict.

Khaleda Zia was imprisoned as the sole inmate at the jail since all the inmates had been transferred to the newly built Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj in 2016.

Khaleda Zia was admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University for medical treatment on 1 April 2019.

On 25 March 2020, Khaleda Zia was released from prison for six months, conditioned to stay at her home in Gulshan and not leave the country.

On 27 November 2024, Khaleda Zia was acquitted in the Charitable Trust graft and Barapukuria graft cases.

On 15 January 2025, Khaleda Zia was acquitted in the orphanage trust graft case.

Khaleda Zia has been suffering from chronic kidney conditions, decompensated liver diseases, unstable haemoglobin, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and other age-related complications.

Khaleda Zia was found to have contracted the virus, but she exhibited no symptoms and recovered later.

On 9 January 2022, Khaleda Zia was transferred from the coronary care unit.

On 7 January 2025, Khaleda Zia went to London aboard a special air ambulance sent by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to seek medical treatment.

On 8 January 2025, Khaleda Zia was admitted to The London Clinic.

Khaleda Zia's passport indicates a birth date of 5 August 1946.