The death of BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has drawn widespread coverage by leading international media, reflecting her enduring influence on Bangladesh's politics and her stature on the global stage.
Major outlets, including Reuters, AFP, The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, the BBC, The Guardian, and Qatar-based Al Jazeera, highlighted her role as Bangladesh's first female prime minister and a central figure in the country's often turbulent political landscape.
The New York Times ran the headline, "Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's First Female Prime Minister, Dies," noting she served three terms in office.
The report highlighted her position as the first woman to lead the country and recalled her decades-long political rivalry with Sheikh Hasina, which shaped Bangladeshi politics as power alternated between the two leaders.
The UK-based Guardian emphasised her prolonged confrontation with Sheikh Hasina, noting that despite years of imprisonment and ill health, Khaleda Zia had expressed her intention last November to campaign in the general election scheduled for February, the first since her main rival was ousted following a mass uprising.
The Washington Post described her as one of the most influential and polarising figures in Bangladesh's modern political history, while Reuters recounted her rise to power in 1991 and highlighted key milestones in her political career, including her fierce rivalry with Sheikh Hasina.
AFP reported under the headline "Bangladesh's Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia Dies at 80," noting that many considered her a possible contender to return to leadership in the next election.
The BBC, in its coverage titled "Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's First Female Prime Minister, Dies Aged 80," recalled her first term in office following Bangladesh's first democratic election in two decades and highlighted her long illness.
It also reported that her party had confirmed her intention to contest the general election in February.
Thrust into the political spotlight following the assassination of her husband, then-President Ziaur Rahman, she became Bangladesh's first female prime minister in 1991.
Known as an "uncompromising leader" for her refusal to participate in a controversial election under military ruler General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in the 1980s, she broke through a male-dominated political landscape and emerged as one of Bangladesh's most formidable leaders.
Al Jazeera described her as Bangladesh's first female prime minister and the second woman to lead a democratically elected government in a Muslim-majority country, underlining her historic significance in both national and regional contexts.
