TDS Desk:

BNP Chairperson three-time former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was laid to rest beside her husband and late President Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital on Wednesday afternoon.

She was buried around 4:30 pm with state honour following her namaz-e-janaza at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

Members of her family, high-ranking state officials, government authorities, foreign guests, diplomats and BNP-nominated politicians were present.

Access was limited to designated personnel during the burial, and public movement in Zia Udyan, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, will be limited until the completion of the burial.

Hundreds of thousands of people offered prayers as her namaz-e-janaza was held at Manik Mia Avenue, bidding her a final farewell amid waves of grief.

Renowned Islamic scholar and Baitul Mukarram Mosque Khatib Mufti Mohammad Abdul Malek led the namaz-e-janaza at 3:02pm.

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, interim government advisers, BNP leaders, leaders of other political parties, and the chiefs of the three services joined the janaza.

Foreign dignitaries, including representatives from India, Pakistan, and other South and Southeast Asian countries, were also present.

Around 11:50 am, a freezer-van draped in the red-and-green national flag, carrying Khaleda Zia’s body, arrived at the avenue from the Gulshan Avenue residence of her elder son, Tarique Rahman.

A multi-layered security arrangement was in place around Manik Mia Avenue to maintain law and order as thousands of mourners gathered. Members of the army, police, RAB, BGB, and other law enforcement agencies remained deployed throughout the event.

Despite the biting winter cold, people from across the country arrived in the capital from early morning to attend the janaza and pay their respects.

After being under medical treatment for over a month, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia passed away at Evercare Hospital at 6 am on Tuesday.

Khaleda Zia led the BNP for 41 years and earned the title of the ‘uncompromising leader’ during the anti-autocracy movement of the 1990s.

She served as a Member of Parliament five times — Prime Minister three times and Leader of the Opposition twice.

Starting her political journey as a homemaker, Khaleda spent much of her over four-decade political life on the streets, leading movements and facing arrests and imprisonment, but never leaving the country. She never lost an election she contested.

The BNP chief had been suffering from multiple chronic illnesses, including liver and kidney complications, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis and infections.