• Dozens line Dhaka streets to honour political icon; toppled Sheikh Hasina sends condolences
• Modi hopes Zia’s legacy can mend Delhi-Dhaka ties

DHAKA: Bangladesh bid farewell on Wednesday to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in a state funeral that drew vast crowds to mourn a towering leader whose career defined the country’s politics for decades.

Zia, the first woman to serve as prime minister in the South Asian nation of 170 million people, died on Tuesday at age 80.

Flags flew at half-staff, and thousands of security officers lined the roads as her body was carried through the streets of Dhaka, by a vehicle draped in the national flag’s colors.

A sea of mourners gathered outside parliament and packed streets leading to it, many waving national and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) flags, before prayers were held over her coffin.

Despite years of ill health, Ms Zia had vowed to campaign in elections set for Feb 12.

This will mark the first vote since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster. Zia’s BNP is widely considered a front-runner, and her son Tarique Rahman, 60 is seen as a potential prime minister.

The interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muha­mmad Yunus, declared three days of national mourning and an elaborate state funeral. Yunus said Bangladesh had “lost a great guardian”.

Zia’s body was interred alongside her late husband, Ziaur Rahman. Leaders and armed forces’ members laid wrea­ths, and a bugle sounded as the burial took place.

In a statement, Mr Rahman said “the country mourns the loss of a guiding presence that shaped its democratic aspirations”.

His mother, he added, “endured repeated arrests, denial of medical care, and relentless persecution,” but “her resilience ... was unbreakable.”

Indian PM Narendra Modi expressed hope that Zia’s “vision and legacy will guide our partnership”, a positive message despite strained Dhaka-New Delhi relations.

Subrahmanyam Jaisha­nkar, New Delhi’s foreign minister, attended the service, marking the highest-level Indian visit since Has­ina’s overthrow. He met Tarique Rahman and conveyed India’s “deepest condolences”.

Zia was jailed for corruption in 2018 under Hasina’s government, which also blocked her from travelling abroad for medical treatment. “I pray for the eternal peace and forgiveness of Begum Khaleda Zia’s soul,” Hasina said in a post on social media by her now-banned Awami League party.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2026