Dhaka/New Delhi, Dec. 30 -- Begum Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's former prime minister and a polarising figure in the country's turbulent political life for more than three decades, died on Tuesday after a prolonged illness.
Zia who was born in Jalpaiguri, in present day West Bengal in 1945, turned 80 last August.
Earlier this month her son Tareque Rahman, who had gone into a self-imposed exile to the UK, had returned on Christmas Day to contest elections slated for February 2026 and be at her bedside as she was suffering from serious infections affecting her heart and lungs.
Her death was confirmed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which she led as chairperson. She passed away at 6 am. at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, where she had be...