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Begum Khaleda Zia's entry into politics, in early eighties,
sudden as it was, made a tremendous impact on the national
politics of Bangladesh in no time.
Obviously, her entry into politics took place after
the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman, her husband,
on May 30, 1981.
She came to politics not because she wanted it but
due to popular demand as well as repeated persuasions from
the workers and leaders of BNP [Bangladesh Nationalist Party],
to lead the party at a time the country had just fallen into
the hands of an autocratic ruler.
Her entry into politics to lead the party, founded
by Ziaur Rahman, automatically put her in the role to lead
a nationwide mass movement for restoration of democracy in
Bangladesh.
Nine years of mass movement participated by many political
parties ended in December 1990 with the downfall of the autocratic
regime of General H. M. Ershad and restoration of democracy
in Bangladesh.
Begum Zia was the graceful First Lady, though she never
used this title, when Zia was the President of the Republic.
By her own admission she never aspired to be in politics.
But once in it, people saw a different Begum Zia, determined
and uncompromising to pursue the cause of democracy and the
masses for which millions rallied round her.
To the masses of Bangladesh she is just Khaleda, her
first name. Out of love and affection they gave her the title,
'Desh Netri' [Leader of the Country], though she never uses
it.
Very much a product of the democratic movement, she
emerged out of it --- a charismatic leader.
Begum Zia still remains the biggest crowd puller as
her public meetings are thronged by thousands.
When she handed over power to a caretaker regime
in 1996, an opposition bid to create anarchy and harass
her party leaders and workers were foiled by millions of people
who rallied round her when she called a public meeting on
shortest possible notice.
She led, as the Leader of the Opposition, the biggest
ever public demonstration, in Bangladesh history, in 1999
to protest oppressive policies of the government of the day.
The peaceful demonstration came under repeated attacks from
the government.
It was not easy. She had to face, during the democratic
movement, many odds, repeated imprisonments and harassment
by an autocratic regime to which the people were nothing but
enemies as were its leaders fighting for democracy.
In the first free and fair general elections in many
years, after the fall of the autocratic regime, held in 1991,
under a non-partisan interim Government and monitored
by observers from across the world, her party BNP spearheading
a 7-party alliance, was voted to power and she was elected
Bangladesh's first woman Prime Minister.
Her election as Prime Minister also saw an amendment
to the Constitution of the Republic so that Bangladesh could
restore parliamentary system of government after a lapse of
16 years.
Her husband, President Zia, had earlier, initiated
the process of economic liberalization and restored multi-party
democracy, discarding one-party system as well as command
model of socialist economy introduced by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
It was during her first tenure in office, from 1991
to 1996, that Bangladesh took to total economic liberalisation
and free market economy. Other big parties of Bangladesh just
followed her party in this regard.
She was elected Prime Minister, for the third time
in October 2001, in a free and fair election conducted by
a neutral and non-partisan caretaker government and monitored
by observers from all over the world. She led a four-party
alliance to win a landslide two-thirds majority in the parliamentary
polls.
Begum Zia was elected Prime Minister for the second
time after the mid-February elections in 1996. However, the
government was short-lived.
Ziaur Rahman founded BNP and introduced politics of
moderation, accommodation, tolerance and liberalism to build
national consensus on various issues.
BNP led by her remains committed to moderation, liberalism,
tolerance and accommodation for evolving bipartisan politics
in national life.
The party also remains committed to building a society
of communal harmony.
Her government worked hard, as did Zia, in projecting
Bangladesh’s traditional society of moderation, tolerance
and communal harmony.
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From 1996 to 2001 Begum Zia was the Leader of the Opposition.
She, of course, led the biggest parliamentary opposition, so
far, in Bangladesh history, winning 116 of a 300-seat parliament.
Whether in opposition or in power Begum Zia, as a public
leader, enjoys immense personal popularity among the people.
She was elected from as many as five parliamentary seats
in each of the three general elections since 1991.
A pogramme to bring economic prosperity to ensure two
square meals to the common people, known as 'dal bhat', she
took in her first term in office earned wide acceptance not
only throughout Bangladesh but also in in the South Asian region
and beyond in many other third world countries.
Unlike many of her contemporaries she is known for her
enviable tolerance. Keen to listen more than speak, a trait
that distinguishes her from the others.
She demonstrated her uncompromising nature by refusing
to go to fake polls under the autocratic regime in 1986 for
which it [the autocratic regime] never got the seal of legitimacy.
During her first tenure in office she took a bold initiative
to empower women in every nook and corner of the country.
She made education up to secondary level free for the
girls and introduced incentives for their education.
Her election manifesto programme for pension for the
elderly population, not in employment, was hijacked by a rival
party government in 1996.
During her first tenure as the Prime Minister she brought
about a major education sector reform making primary education
compulsory, free education for girl students, introduced the
incentive of stipends for girl students as well as food for
education programme.
She initiated bold reforms to revitalise the national
economy by accelerating production and growth in all economic
sectors for poverty alleviation.
Agriculture, being the mainstay of national economy,
received the main thrust for achieving food autarky in shortest
possible time.
With active support from the government people took to
raising livestock for dairy and meat production. The upshot
was that Bangladesh could, in no time, save over Taka 3000 million
on import of powdered milk. It was just an example of the positive
productive and growth oriented programme adopted by her government.
Her government pursued a dynamic and positive foreign
policy promoting good neighbourly relations, bolstering regional
cooperation in South Asia, strict adherence to the UN Charter
and furthering world peace and amity, peaceful and negotiated
settlement of all international disputes, renunciation of use
of force in international relations.
It was during her tenure that Bangladesh's involvement
began to increase rapidly in international peacekeeping efforts
under the UN blue helmets.
The share of domestic resources in economic development
efforts also grew during her first term in office in sharp contrast
to the picture during the previous autocratic regime which even
had to borrow from abroad to pay salary of government employees.
Bangladesh enjoyed a positive image in the international
community at the time for which very big investment teams, as
never before or afterwards, were sent by Japan, Euromoney, Great
Britain, to name a few. But it was largely due to negative politics
on the streets that they did not or could not yield expected
results.
Even then industrial investment including from abroad
grew substantially during her first term in office.
Construction of the Jamuna Bridge, across the mighty
river, the biggest construction project so far, could begin
during her tenure as foreign aid held up before came during
her tenure.
Third among her parents' five children she was born on
August 15, 1945. She had her education at Dinajpur Government
Girls' High School and Surendranath College. She was married
to Ziaur Rahman, then a Captain in Pakistan Army, in August
1960.
Zia made history 11 years later, as a major, proclaiming
independence of Bangladesh after Pakistan Army cracked down
on unarmed population of the country on the fateful night of
March 25, 1971.
Mother of two sons and grandmother of a couple of grand
children her hobies include reading, listening to music and
gardening.
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