Khaleda Zia: Jump To Navigation Jump To Search
Khaleda Zia: Jump To Navigation Jump To Search
Khaleda Zia: Jump To Navigation Jump To Search
Khaleda Zia
খালেদা জিয়া
In office
Shahabuddin Ahmed
President
Badruddoza Chowdhury
Iajuddin Ahmed
In office
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 May 1984
In office
In office
In office
In office
In office
Personal details
Children Tarique
Arafat
Khurshid Jahan (sister)
Contents
Zia's first son, Tarique Rahman (b. 1967), got involved into politics and went on to
become the acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[20] Her second son, Arafat
Rahman "Koko" (b. 1969), died of a cardiac arrest in 2015. [21] Zia's sister, Khurshid
Jahan (1939–2006) served as the Minister of Women and Children Affairs during 2001–
2006.[22] Her younger brother, Sayeed Iskander (1953–2012), was also a politician who
served as a Jatiya Sangsad member from the Feni-1 constituency during 2001–2006.
[23]
Her second brother, Shamim Iskandar, is a retired flight engineer of Bangladesh
Biman.[24][25] Her second sister is Selina Islam.[26]
Involvement in politics[edit]
On 30 May 1981, Zia's husband, the-then President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman,
was assassinated.[27] After his death, on 2 January 1982, she got involved into politics by
first becoming a member of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) - the party which was
founded by Rahman.[28] She took charge of the vice-chairman position in March 1983.
[28]
Under her leadership, BNP formed a 7-party alliance in 1983 during the rule
of Hussain Muhammad Ershad.[3] Due to ill-health condition of justice Abdus Sattar, she
became the acting chairperson of the party on 12 January 1984. [28] When Sattar was
ousted from the presidency by the 1982 military coup, Zia replaced him as the
chairperson on 10 May.[3] She was detained under house arrest in 1983, 1984 and 1987.
In 1987, police detained her during a meeting at the Hotel Purbani in Dhaka. [29]
Prime Minister[edit]
First term[edit]
Zia with US President Bill Clinton.
Zia with the Indian Leader of Opposition L. K. Advani in New Delhi (2006)
The BNP formed a four-party alliance[34] on 6 January 1999 to increase its chances to
return to power in the next general elections. These included its former political foe
the Jatiya Party, founded by President Ershad after he led a military government, and
the Islamic parties of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and the Islami Oikya Jot. It
encouraged protests against the ruling Awami League.
Many residents[according to whom?] strongly criticized Zia and BNP for allying with Jamaat-e-Islami,
[35]
which had opposed the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. The four-party alliance
participated in the 1 October 2001 general elections, winning two-thirds of the seats in
parliament and 46% of the vote (compared to the principal opposition party's 40%). Zia
was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
She worked on a 100-day programme to fulfill most of her election pledges to the
nation. During this term, the share of domestic resources in economic development
efforts grew. Bangladesh began to attract a higher level of international investment for
development of the country's infrastructure, energy resources and businesses, including
from the United States, Great Britain, and Japan. Restoration of law and order was an
achievement during the period.
Zia promoted neighbourly relations in her foreign policy. In her "look-east policy," she
worked to bolster regional cooperation in South Asia and adherence to the UN Charter
of Human Rights. She negotiated settlement of international disputes, and renounced
the use of force in international relations. Bangladesh began to participate in United
Nations international peacekeeping efforts. In 2006, Forbes magazine featured her
administration in a major story praising her achievements. Her government worked to
educate young girls (nearly 70% of Bangladeshi women were illiterate) and distribute
food to the poor (half of Bangladesh's 135 million people live below the poverty line).
Her government promoted strong GDP growth (5%) based on economic reforms and
support of an entrepreneurial culture.
When Zia became prime minister for the third time, the GDP growth rate of Bangladesh
remained above 6 percent. The Bangladesh per capita national income rose to 482
dollars. Foreign exchange reserve of Bangladesh had crossed 3 billion dollars from the
previous 1 billion dollars. The foreign direct investments of Bangladesh had risen to 2.5
billion dollars. The industrial sector of the GDP had exceeded 17 percent at the end of
Zia's office.[3]
On 29 October 2006, Zia's term in office ended. In accordance with the constitution, a
caretaker government would manage in the 90-day interim before general elections. On
the eve of the last day, rioting broke out on the streets of central Dhaka due to
uncertainty over who would become Chief Advisor (head of the Caretaker Government
of Bangladesh). Under the constitution, the immediate past Chief Justice was to be
appointed. But, Chief Justice Khondokar Mahmud Hasan (K M Hasan) declined the
position.[36][37][38][39] President Iajuddin Ahmed, as provided for in the constitution, assumed
power as Chief Advisor on 29 October 2006.[40] He tried to arrange elections and bring all
political parties to the table during months of violence; 40 people were killed and
hundreds injured in the first month after the government's resignation in November
2006.
Mukhlesur Rahman Chowdhury, the presidential advisor, met with Zia and Sheikh
Hasina, and other political parties to try to resolve issues and schedule elections.
Negotiations continued against a backdrop of political bickering, protests and
polarisation that threatened the economy. [41][42] Officially on 26 December 2006, all
political parties joined the planned 22 January 2007 elections. The Awami League
pulled out at the last minute, and in January the military intervened to back the
caretaker government for a longer interim period. It held power until holding general
elections in December 2008.
Foreign policy[edit]
In 2017, the police conducted a raid on Zia's house search for "anti-state" documents. [77]
Charges and imprisonment in 2018[edit]
On 3 July 2008, during the 2007–08 caretaker government rule, ACC had filed a graft
case, accusing Zia and five others of misappropriating over Tk 2.1 crore that had come
from a foreign bank as grants for orphans.[78] According to the case, on 9 June 1991,
$1.255M (Tk 4.45 crore) grant was transferred from United Saudi Commercial Bank
to Prime Minister's Orphanage Fund - a fund that was created by then Prime Minister
Zia shortly before the transfer of the grant as part of the embezzlement scheme. [78] On 5
September 1993, she issued a Tk 2.33 crore cheque from the Prime Minister's
Orphanage Fund to the Zia Orphanage Trust on the pretext of building an orphanage
in Bogra.[78] By April 2006, the deposited amount grew to Tk 3.37 crore with accrued
interest. In April, June and July 2006, some of the money was transferred to bank
accounts of three other accused – Salimul, Mominur and Sharfuddin – through different
transactions.[79] On 15 February 2007, Tk 2.10 crore was withdrawn through pay orders
from two of the FDR accounts.[78] Zia was accused of misappropriating that money by
transferring the amount from a public fund to a private one. [79]
On 8 February 2018, during the Awami League government rule, Zia was sentenced to
prison for five years in that corruption case.[12] Mobile phone jammers were installed at
Bakshibazar court premises ahead of the verdict. [80] Her party claimed that the verdict
was politically biased.[81] Zia was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail after the verdict.
[82]
She was imprisoned as the sole inmate at the jail since all the inmates had been
transferred to the newly built Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj in 2016.[83][84] On 11
February 2018, Dhaka Special Judge's Court 5 directed the authorities of Dhaka Central
Jail to provide first class division to Zia. [85] On 31 October 2018, the High Court raised
her jail term to 10 years after ACC pleaded for a revision.[86]
On 30 October 2018, in another case, Zia Charitable Trust Graft Case, Zia was
sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment. [87] Khaleda is also accused in other 32
cases including Gatco Graft Case, Niko Graft Case, Barapukuria Coalmine Graft
Case, Darussalam Police Station Cases, Jatrabari Police Station Cases, Sedition
Case, Bomb Attack on Shipping Minister Case, Khulna Arson Case, Comilla Arson
Case, Celebrating Fake Birthday Case, Undermining National Flag Case and Loan
Default Case.[88]
Zia's nomination papers to contest for Feni-1, Bogra-6 and Bogra-7 constituencies at
the 2018 general election were rejected.[89] She was not able to contest because
according to article 66 (2) (d) of the constitution, "a person shall be disqualified for
election as, or for being, a member of parliament who has been, on conviction for a
criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not
less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his/her release".
[90]
Her party lost that general election to Awami League. [91]
Zia was admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University for medical
treatment on 1 April 2019.[13] The High Court and the Supreme Court rejected her bail
plea on humanitarian grounds a total four times. [14] On 25 March 2020, she was released
for six months, conditioned she would stay at her home in Gulshan and not leave the
country.[14] The government issued this executive decision as per section 401 (1) of the
Criminal Code of Procedure (CrPC).[14]
Eponyms[edit]
References[edit]
Footnotes
1. ^ In 1947, Dinajpur district was split into West Dinajpur District in India
and Dinajpur District in the then East Bengal.
Citations
External links[edit]
"Life Sketch: Begum Khaleda Zia". Permanent Mission of
Bangladesh to the United Nations. Archived from the
original on 13 January 2009.
Works by or about Khaleda Zia in libraries
(WorldCat catalog)
Barbara Crossette (17 October 1993). "Conversations:
Khaleda Zia; A Woman Leader for a Land That Defies
Islamic Stereotypes". The New York Times.
William Green; Alex Perry (10 April 2006). "We Have
Arrested So Many". Time.
Alex Perry (3 April 2006). "Rebuilding Bangladesh". Time.
Archived from the original on 30 November 2010.
show
Prime Ministers of Bangladesh (List)
show
Ziaur Rahman
show
62084
43
ntities: lccn-n89262084
Find out more on Wikipedia's Media
from Commons
Sister projects
Data
from Wikidata
Categories:
Living people
1945 births
20th-century women politicians
21st-century women politicians
Bengali Muslims
Bengali politicians
Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians
Bangladeshi Muslims
Female heads of government
First Ladies of Bangladesh
People from Bogra District
People from Dinajpur District, Bangladesh
People from Feni District
Prime Ministers of Bangladesh
Women members of the Jatiya Sangsad
Women opposition leaders
Women prime ministers
Ziaur Rahman
Leaders of the Opposition (Bangladesh)
Bangladeshi politicians convicted of crimes
Bangladeshi prisoners and detainees
5th Jatiya Sangsad members
6th Jatiya Sangsad members
7th Jatiya Sangsad members
8th Jatiya Sangsad members
9th Jatiya Sangsad members
Heads of regimes who were later imprisoned
Female defence ministers
Navigation menu
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Article
Talk
Read
Edit
View history
Search
Search Go
Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
Contribute
Help
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Languages
العربية
বাংলা
Español
हिन्दी
Bahasa Indonesia
Bahasa Melayu
Русский
اردو
中文
32 more
Edit links
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Print/export
Download as PDF
Printable version
This page was last edited on 14 June 2020, at 16:02 (UTC).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of
Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Statistics
Cookie statement
Mobile view