Khaleda Zia, the first woman prime minister of Bangladesh and one of the greatest personalities in Bangladesh’s political history, will be buried on Tuesday, December 31, next to her husband, former president Ziaur Rahman, at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka. The funeral prayer will be held at 2 pm at Manik Mia Avenue, and a number of national and international dignitaries will be present.
The External Affairs Minister of India, S. Jaishankar, will be representing New Delhi at the funeral, where he will visit Dhaka with the intention of giving his last goodbyes. As one of the official statements has it, the presence of Jaishankar reveals the importance of the role played by Khaleda Zia in the politics of Bangladesh and her long-term interactions with the rest of the leaders of the region.
Khaleda Zia, the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), died on Tuesday, aged 80, due to a long period of illness. Her death has seen a flood of condolences from political leaders on both sides of the political divide in Bangladesh and internationally. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave his condolences, and former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was also a long-time political opponent of Zia, gave tributes to her contributions to the country.
The funeral prayers would be after Zuhr and would be conducted at about 2 pm, which was confirmed by the press wing of the chief adviser of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus. After the prayers, the burial of Khaleda Zia will be conducted with all the state honours around 3:30 pm beside the grave of her husband.
The funeral is expected to be attended by family members, high government officials, state dignitaries, foreign guests, ambassadors, and BNP-nominated political leaders, according to the local media sources. The foreign dignitaries that are also likely to attend include the National Assembly Speaker of Pakistan, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
In order to maintain security, police and Armed Police Battalion numbers have been increased to over 10,000, and the army troops are presented at the strategic points.
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