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Published : 31 Dec 2025, 12:29 PM
People from all walks of life are gathering at Dhaka’s Manik Mia Avenue to attend the funeral prayers of former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
Extensive security measures have been put in place in and around Manik Mia Avenue and the areas surrounding the Parliament complex ahead of the prayers.
Party leaders, activists and members of the public arriving from across the capital and other parts of the country are being required to enter Manik Mia Avenue through the archway gate at the eastern end of the avenue.
Khaleda died early on Tuesday morning at Evercare Hospital, where she had been receiving treatment for the past 40 days. She was 79.
The BNP chief, who earned the reputation of being an “uncompromising leader” through the anti-autocracy movement of the 1990s, led the BNP for 41 years. She served five terms as a member of parliament, was prime minister three times, and twice held the post of leader of the opposition.
As the nation prepares to bid farewell to its first female prime minister, a sombre mood has settled across the country.
A three-day period of state mourning began at dawn on Wednesday, with the national flag lowered to half-mast at all government, autonomous and private institutions, educational establishments, and Bangladesh missions abroad. Wednesday has also been declared a public holiday.
Khaleda’s coffin is being taken to Manik Mia Avenue from Gulshan.
Her funeral prayers will be held around 2pm after Zuhr prayers. The funeral prayers for her husband, former president and BNP found Ziaur Rahman, was held at the same venue on Jun 2, 1981.
Following the service, Khaleda will be buried with state honours beside Zia's grave around 3:30pm.
Around 11am, the flag-draped hearse carrying Khaleda's body set off for Manik Mia Avenue from 192 Gulshan Avenue. Her elder son and BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and other members of the family were travelling in a bus accompanying the motorcade.
Earlier in the morning, her body had been taken to the Gulshan residence, where senior BNP leaders, party activists, relatives and well-wishers gathered to pay their final respects.
Her coffin will be placed on a stage at the western end of Manik Mia Avenue.
The Chief Advisor's Office has said the funeral prayers will extend across the inner grounds of the Parliament complex, nearby areas and the full length of Manik Mia Avenue.
Thousands of mourners have travelled from across Bangladesh to attend.
A garment worker who travelled from Sirajganj said he had left Gazipur after dawn prayers to be there. “We’ve come to take part in madam’s janaza,” he said. “When we think of her as the leader of the nation and the mother of democracy, we can’t stay away. Cold, storms or rain — nothing is a barrier. Thousands of working people like me have gathered here.”
Another mourner in his sixties, who arrived from Natore before dawn, spoke through tears. “We reached here at 4am,” he said. “We have come for the funeral of the uncompromising leader, the mother of the nation. We wanted to bid farewell to our beloved mother one last time. May Allah grant her a place in Jannatul Ferdous.”
A BNP activist, visibly emotional, said Khaleda had been a maternal figure to supporters. “We remember her as our mother,” he said. “Our mother has left us. We always saw her that way. May Allah grant her paradise.”
Others arrived from Rajshahi, Mymensingh and Khagrachhari. A man from Rajshahi said he reached Dhaka’s Airport Station at around 4:30am. “I came to attend the Janaza (funeral prayers),” he said. “I am involved in BNP politics — I came for my leader.”
Before 8am, a young man named Rahim, who had travelled from Mymensingh, said many people like him had entered Dhaka on foot after transport restrictions were imposed. Security personnel stopped them when they attempted to enter Manik Mia Avenue from the western end, which has been closed to allow preparations to continue and to maintain order.
“We came early, anticipating the crowd,” Rahim said. “From the Asad Gate–Aarong intersection, we took different alleyways to reach Khamarbari. But even now, there’s already a huge influx of people.”
News of Khaleda's death also drew groups of BNP leaders and activists from distant districts, including Khagrachhari in Chattogram. One of them said thousands had travelled to attend.
“She was a leader of the oppressed and loved by everyone,” he said. “People of all religions and communities are mourning her. We pray that she is granted the highest place in paradise.”
