A MART脥NEZ, HOST:
Mourners gathered today in Bangladesh at the funeral for the country's first female prime minister. Khaleda Zia died Tuesday at the age of 80. NPR's Diaa Hadid reports.
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DIAA HADID, BYLINE: They gathered by the tens of thousands at the National Parliament building in the Bangladeshi capital.
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HADID: Mourners recited the Quran.
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HADID: As news of her death broke, mourners had gathered outside the hospital where she was being treated. One woman cried, Khaleda Zia is a symbol of democracy.
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HADID: Mubashir Hasan is an expert on South Asian politics. He describes her legacy as...
MUBASHIR HASAN: Gracefulness and grit.
HADID: ...Gracefulness and grit. Khaleda Zia first came to prominence after her husband, the president, was killed in a military coup in 1981. She went on to lead his party, known as the BNP, and in 1990, brought it to victory and became the country's first female prime minister. Over the next few decades, she veered between power and prison as she wrestled with her rival, the other woman who dominated Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina.
Many mourners shared a clip of the speech she gave to address rumors that she would live in exile.
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HADID: She says, "I have nowhere else to live, save for this country. This is where I belong." Khaleda Zia was admired for her defiance. Critics say that ultimately papered over her faults, too. She made alliances with hardliners. She jailed her own opponents. And she, too, spent the last few years of her life between prison and house arrest on charges of corruption that she said were politically motivated.
Her freedom finally came the day after her rival, Sheikh Hasina, was ousted and exiled in August 2024 amid mass protests. The academic Hasan says, in freedom, Khaleda Zia won even more respect by not bad-mouthing her rival, a rival who constantly bad-mouthed her.
HASAN: You could see that reflection today, where people are going in hundreds and thousands to pay their last respect.
HADID: Their last respects. Bangladesh will be holding elections in February. Khaleda Zia's son will lead the party he inherited from his mother.
Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai.
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