BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has passed away. She died around 6:00am on Tuesday (30 December) while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in the capital. She was 80.
The BNP Media Cell confirmed the information in a post on its Facebook page at 6:59am.
Earlier, Khaleda Zia’s personal physician and BNP Standing Committee member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain told journalists outside the hospital around 2:30am that she was going through a critically difficult period.
Dr Zahid said BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman, and Syeda Shamila Rahman, wife of late Arafat Rahman Koko, along with other relatives of Khaleda Zia, went to the hospital. Many of them are still present there.
The BNP chairperson had been undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital since November 23. She had long been suffering from multiple health complications, including diabetes, kidney disease, and heart- and lung-related problems, which had fluctuated over time.
Khaleda Zia, wife of former President and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. She had been the chairperson of the BNP since 1984. The party was founded by Ziaur Rahman in 1978.