Wednesday, 27 August, 2025
“The past is never truly past; it waits for its moment to speak the truth.” – The words of American writer William Faulkner found fresh resonance in Bangladesh on Friday, as the nation openly celebrated the birthday of BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.
Khaleda Khanam “Putul” was born in 1945 in Jalpaiguri, then part of undivided Dinajpur District in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Jalpaiguri District, India). Her ancestral home is in Fulgazi, Feni. She was the third of five children of tea trader Iskandar Ali Majumder of Fulgazi. Khaleda Zia served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006, becoming the country’s first female prime minister and the second in the Muslim world after Benazir Bhutto.
During the tenure of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, public observances of Khaleda Zia’s birthday were prohibited. To her supporters, she is the “Mother of Democracy”. This year, marking her 81st birthday, doa and milad mahfils were held across the country in her honour.
At her ancestral home in Fulgazi upazila, Feni, special meals (tabarak) were distributed in a programme organised by her younger brother, Zahid Hossain Majumder. Even in Gopalganj—Sheikh Hasina’s birthplace—BNP and its affiliates held a milad mahfil at the local party office.
Hasina had long barred celebrations on 15 August, as the date coincides with the 1975 assassination of her father, then-President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, following political unrest, famine, and widespread allegations of corruption and politicisation. For years, she dismissed the date’s coincidence with Khaleda Zia’s birthday as a political manoeuvre, using it to attack and ridicule her rival.
This year, for the first time since Hasina’s departure from power, Khaleda Zia’s birthday was celebrated freely across Bangladesh—not only by BNP supporters but also by civil society groups, including in Gopalganj. It reinforced a political truth: history is a stern judge; it forgets nothing and forgives little.
In line with BNP’s guidance, the day was marked through religious observances rather than cake-cutting or festive gatherings. Prayers and milad mahfils were organised at BNP offices and mosques nationwide, including at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters in Dhaka, where prayers were offered for the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War, the 1990 mass uprising, and the 2024 student–people’s movement, as well as for the recovery of those injured.
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus sent flowers to Khaleda Zia on her birthday, while the Chinese Ambassador’s office delivered a bouquet the previous evening.
Born on 15 August 1945 in Dinajpur, Khaleda Zia is the daughter of Iskander Majumdar of Fulgazi, Feni, and Tayyaba Majumdar of Chandanbari. She married then-Pakistan Army Captain Ziaur Rahman while studying at Dinajpur Surendranath College. They had two sons: BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and the late Arafat Rahman Koko.
Khaleda Zia entered politics after her husband’s assassination in 1981, joining BNP in 1982 and becoming its Chairperson in 1984. She rose to prominence during the anti-autocracy movement of the late 1980s, becoming the country’s first female Prime Minister in 1991. She served three terms, and in 1993 became the first woman to chair SAARC.
Her final term began after the October 2001 elections, but political upheaval during the 1/11 military-backed caretaker regime saw her imprisoned in 2007. Arrested again in 2018 on what BNP calls politically motivated charges, she suffered severe health deterioration in detention. Released conditionally in 2020, she remained under house arrest until January 2025, when the Emir of Qatar arranged an air ambulance to London for treatment. She returned in May 2025 after four months abroad.
Now battling multiple chronic illnesses, including liver cirrhosis, kidney disease, diabetes, arthritis, and heart complications, Khaleda Zia remains a central figure in Bangladesh’s political landscape. Her birthday—long a flashpoint of political controversy—this year became a symbol of resilience, vindication, and the slow but certain return of truth in history’s judgement.
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“The past is never truly past; it waits for its moment to speak the truth.” – The words of American writer William Faulkner found fresh resonance in Bangladesh on Friday, as the nation openly celebrated the birthday of BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.
Khaleda Khanam “Putul” was born in 1945 in Jalpaiguri, then part of undivided Dinajpur District in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Jalpaiguri District, India). Her ancestral home is in Fulgazi, Feni. She was the third of five children of tea trader Iskandar Ali Majumder of Fulgazi. Khaleda Zia served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006, becoming the country’s first female prime minister and the second in the Muslim world after Benazir Bhutto.
During the tenure of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, public observances of Khaleda Zia’s birthday were prohibited. To her supporters, she is the “Mother of Democracy”. This year, marking her 81st birthday, doa and milad mahfils were held across the country in her honour.
At her ancestral home in Fulgazi upazila, Feni, special meals (tabarak) were distributed in a programme organised by her younger brother, Zahid Hossain Majumder. Even in Gopalganj—Sheikh Hasina’s birthplace—BNP and its affiliates held a milad mahfil at the local party office.
Hasina had long barred celebrations on 15 August, as the date coincides with the 1975 assassination of her father, then-President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, following political unrest, famine, and widespread allegations of corruption and politicisation. For years, she dismissed the date’s coincidence with Khaleda Zia’s birthday as a political manoeuvre, using it to attack and ridicule her rival.
This year, for the first time since Hasina’s departure from power, Khaleda Zia’s birthday was celebrated freely across Bangladesh—not only by BNP supporters but also by civil society groups, including in Gopalganj. It reinforced a political truth: history is a stern judge; it forgets nothing and forgives little.
In line with BNP’s guidance, the day was marked through religious observances rather than cake-cutting or festive gatherings. Prayers and milad mahfils were organised at BNP offices and mosques nationwide, including at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters in Dhaka, where prayers were offered for the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War, the 1990 mass uprising, and the 2024 student–people’s movement, as well as for the recovery of those injured.
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus sent flowers to Khaleda Zia on her birthday, while the Chinese Ambassador’s office delivered a bouquet the previous evening.
Born on 15 August 1945 in Dinajpur, Khaleda Zia is the daughter of Iskander Majumdar of Fulgazi, Feni, and Tayyaba Majumdar of Chandanbari. She married then-Pakistan Army Captain Ziaur Rahman while studying at Dinajpur Surendranath College. They had two sons: BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and the late Arafat Rahman Koko.
Khaleda Zia entered politics after her husband’s assassination in 1981, joining BNP in 1982 and becoming its Chairperson in 1984. She rose to prominence during the anti-autocracy movement of the late 1980s, becoming the country’s first female Prime Minister in 1991. She served three terms, and in 1993 became the first woman to chair SAARC.
Her final term began after the October 2001 elections, but political upheaval during the 1/11 military-backed caretaker regime saw her imprisoned in 2007. Arrested again in 2018 on what BNP calls politically motivated charges, she suffered severe health deterioration in detention. Released conditionally in 2020, she remained under house arrest until January 2025, when the Emir of Qatar arranged an air ambulance to London for treatment. She returned in May 2025 after four months abroad.
Now battling multiple chronic illnesses, including liver cirrhosis, kidney disease, diabetes, arthritis, and heart complications, Khaleda Zia remains a central figure in Bangladesh’s political landscape. Her birthday—long a flashpoint of political controversy—this year became a symbol of resilience, vindication, and the slow but certain return of truth in history’s judgement.
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