Khaleda Zia laid to rest beside Ziaur Rahman's grave

BNP Chairperson and three-time former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia was laid to eternal rest beside her husband, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman's grave in the city, following her namaz-e-janaza on Wednesday. 

Millions of people from across Bangladesh attended her namaz-e-janaza at Manik Mia Avenue in the capital. The Janaza began around 3:00 pm, while the coffin wrapped in the national flag was brought to the venue around 2:45 pm with full state honour. 

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman sought doa (supplication) for eternal peace of the departed soul of his mother, Begum Khaleda Zia, prior to her janaza. 

Baitul Mukarram National Mosque Khatib Mufti Mohammad Abdul Malek conducted the funeral prayers while BNP Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan read out a brief biography of Begum Zia. 

Following the janaza, Begum Khaleda Zia’s body was taken to Zia Udyan in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, where she was laid to eternal rest beside Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman with full state honour. The burial ceremony was restricted to invited guests due to elaborate state arrangements.

Khaleda Zia, three-time prime minister and the country’s first female prime minister, passed away at the age of 80 while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka early Tuesday morning. 

Her elder son, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, and other family members were by her side at the time of her death.

Following her death, the interim government declared three days of state mourning from Wednesday to Friday (Dec 31–Jan 2), with Wednesday observed as a public holiday.

Dhaka witnessed an unprecedented outpouring of grief on Wednesday as millions of mourners from across Bangladesh converged on Manik Mia Avenue to pay their final tributes to three-time Prime Minister and legendary political leader BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.