BNP Chairperson and three-time former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia was laid to rest beside her husband, late President Ziaur Rahman, at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital on Wednesday afternoon, bringing to a solemn close one of the most defining chapters in Bangladesh’s political history.
At around 4:30pm, she was buried with state honours, following her namaz-e-janaza held earlier on Manik Mia Avenue, where the nation had gathered in unprecedented numbers to bid her farewell.
In a moment heavy with grief and silence, her eldest son and BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, along with senior party leaders, lowered her mortal remains into the grave – his final duty as a son to a mother, and as a leader to a towering figure of national politics.
Members of the bereaved family, high-ranking state officials, government representatives, foreign guests, diplomats and BNP-nominated leaders stood in quiet reverence during the burial.
For security and protocol reasons, access to Zia Udyan in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar was restricted, with public movement limited until the completion of the rites.
Earlier, Khaleda Zia’s body was brought to the mausoleum of former President Ziaur Rahman in a special ceremonial carriage.
As the cortege arrived, members of the army and navy lifted the coffin onto their shoulders and marched in slow, measured steps toward the grave – each step echoing the weight of history.
The coffin, draped in the red and green of the national flag, was then gently uncovered. In a deeply symbolic moment, the armed forces folded the flag with precision and care and handed it to the next of kin, an enduring mark of the nation’s respect.
Tarique Rahman personally lowered his mother’s body into the grave, assisted by senior BNP leaders. Nearby, his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman, daughter Zaima Rahman, younger brother Arafat Rahman’s wife Shamila Rahman, Arafat’s younger daughter Zafira Rahman, other family members, party leaders and political figures stood in silence, paying their final respects.
Following the completion of the religious rites, contingents of the armed forces rendered a seven-gun salute. This was followed by a ceremonial salute and guard of honour.
As the haunting notes of the Last Post sounded on bugles, many in attendance were seen wiping away tears – an army’s farewell to a leader honoured by the state.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of thousands of mourners had gathered at Manik Mia Avenue, turning the capital into a vast congregation of sorrow. Waves of grief swept through the crowd as people raised their hands in prayer for a leader who dominated Bangladesh’s politics for more than four decades.
Renowned Islamic scholar and Baitul Mukarram Mosque Khatib Mufti Mohammad Abdul Malek led the namaz-e-janaza at 3:02pm.
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, advisers of the interim government, senior BNP leaders, leaders of other political parties, and the chiefs of the army, navy and air force joined the prayers. Foreign dignitaries, including representatives from India, Pakistan, and several South and Southeast Asian countries, were also present.
At around 11:50am, a freezer-hearse draped in the red and green of the national flag arrived at Manik Mia Avenue from the Gulshan Avenue residence of her elder son, Tarique Rahman. The sight drew tears, whispered prayers and emotional slogans from the sea of mourners lining the roads.
A multi-layered security arrangement was maintained throughout the day. Members of the army, police, RAB, BGB and other law-enforcement agencies remained deployed as mourners continued to arrive in their thousands.
Despite the biting winter cold, people from across the country began arriving in the capital from early morning – some waiting for hours, others standing through the night – determined to be part of the final farewell.
Begum Khaleda Zia passed away at Evercare Hospital at around 6:00am on Tuesday after more than a month of treatment.
She led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party for 41 years and earned a reputation as an “uncompromising leader” during the anti-autocracy movement of the 1990s. Over her political career, she served as a Member of Parliament five times – three times as Prime Minister and twice as Leader of the Opposition.
Beginning her political journey as a homemaker, Khaleda Zia spent much of her more than four decades in politics on the streets – leading movements, facing arrests and imprisonment, yet never leaving the country. She never lost an election she contested.
In her final years, she battled multiple chronic illnesses, including liver and kidney complications, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and recurrent infections.
On Wednesday, she was finally laid to rest beside her husband – reunited in death, as the nation stood still in remembrance.