Khaleda Zia

Begum Khaleda Zia (Bengali: খালেদা জিয়া) (born August 15, 1945) is a former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, having served from 1991 to 1996, becoming the first woman in the country's history to hold that position. She served again from 2001 to 2006. Zia is the widow of assassinated President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman, and leads his old party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

After 35 years of independence of Bangladesh she has ruled the country for about 10 years (longest period). She has been elected to five separate parliamentary constituencies in the general elections of 1991, 1996, and 2001, a feat unachieved by any other politician in Bangladeshi history. In 2006, Forbes ranked Khaleda Zia at number 33 in its list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world.

Khaleda Zia was born to Iskandar Majumder and Taiyaba Majumder in Dinajpur District on 15 August 1945. The family originally hails from Feni, a southeastern district of the country. She studied in Dinajpur Government Girls High School.In 1960, she married Ziaur Rahman.

Her husband later became Chief of the Armed Forces and subsequently assumed power as Chief Martial Law Administrator following a series of military coups. He attempted to move toward a civilian administration by forming the BNP and becoming democratically elected as President. so she is most prominent personality of Bangladesh.

Until the assassination of her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, in an abortive military coup in Chittagong on 30 May 1981, Khaleda Zia had taken little interest in either politics or public life. Even when her husband assumed power after the political changes in 1975, she remained a shy and withdrawn housewife spending most of her time raising her two sons.

After the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman, Vice-President Justice Abdus Sattar took over as the acting President and also as Chairman of the BNP. Army Chief of Staff General Hossain Mohammad Ershad overthrew Justice Sattar on March 24, 1982.

In March 1983, Justice Sattar appointed Khaleda Zia as vice-chairman of the BNP. In February 1984, she became the chairperson as Justice Sattar retired from politics. On August 10, 1984 the party elected her the chairperson.

Under the leadership of Begum Zia, the BNP formed a 7-party alliance in 1983 and launched a relentless struggle against the autocratic regime of General Ershad. During the 9-year-long struggle against Ershad, Begum Zia did not compromise with his autocratic and illegitimate government. For her strict adherence to the principles, the government restricted her movements by using prohibitive laws. She was detained seven times in eight years. But undaunted, Begum Zia continued to provide leadership in the movement for ousting Ershad. Like Zia before him, Ershad attempted to give his rule a civilian and democratic face, but Khaleda Zia boycotted all elections during his rule. Khaleda was detained seven times during almost nine years of autocratic rule under President Ershad before his resignation on 6 December 1990.

In the face of a mass upsurge spearheaded by alliances led by Begum Zia and Sheikh Hasina, Ershad at last handed over power to a neutral caretaker government on December 6, 1990. In the parliamentary elections held under this government on February 27, 1991, Bangladesh Nationalist Party emerged victorious as a single majority party. Begum Zia contested from five constituencies in three consecutive parliamentary elections and won in all seats. This of course, is a unique feat in the history of elections in the country.