Begum Khaleda Zia (1945- )  Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1991-1996, 2001-)  and the chairperson of bangladesh nationalist party. Begum Khaleda Zia was born on 15 August 1945 at Dinajpur town, where her father Iskandar Majumdar, who hailed from Fulghazi thana of Feni district, was a resident businessman. After the partition of India in 1947, Majumdar left his tea-business at Jalpaiguri of India and settled at Dinajpur. Khaleda Zia attended Dinajpur Missionary School and did her matriculation from Dinajpur Girls' School in 1960. In the same year, she was married to the then Captain ziaur rahman, who later became the country's president. Khaleda Zia continued her education at Surendranath College of Dinajpur until 1965, when she went to West Pakistan to join her husband.

At the start of the war of liberationin March 1971, Ziaur Rahman proclaimed independence from the local radio station. Later, the government of Bangladesh in exile made him commander of the 'Z'-force. The Pakistan occupation army arrested Begum Zia and she was freed after Bangladesh achieved victory on 16 December 1971.

After the brutal assassination of President Ziaur Rahman on 30 May 1981, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) faced great crisis. Justice Abdus Sattar, the new chairman of BNP and also the new President of Bangladesh was ousted from the presidency by a military coup staged by the then army chief General hussain muhammad ershadwho proclaimed Martial Law on 24 March 1982.

At that time, many BNP leaders left the party and joined the military government. At this critical juncture, Khaleda Zia became the vice-president of BNP and on 10 May 1984, she was elected its chairperson.

Under the leadership of Begum Zia, BNP formed a 7-party alliance in 1983 and launched a relentless struggle against the autocratic regime of General Ershad. During the 9-year-long struggle against Ershad, Begum Zia did not compromise with his autocratic and illegitimate government. For her strict adherence to the principles, the government restricted her movements by using prohibitive laws. She was detained seven times in eight years. But undaunted, Begum Zia continued to provide leadership in the movement for ousting Ershad.

In the face of a mass upsurge spearheaded by alliances led by Begum Zia and Sheikh Hasina, Ershad at last handed over power to a neutral caretaker government on 6 December 1990. In the parliamentary elections held under this government on 27 February 1991, Bangladesh Nationalist Party emerged victorious as a single majority party. Begum Zia contested from five constituencies in three consecutive parliamentary elections and won in all seats. This of course, is a unique feat in the history of elections in the country.

On 20 March 1991, Begum Zia was sworn-in as the first woman prime minister of the country. She piloted the historic 12th constitutional amendment bill that was passed in the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) on 6 August 1991 to reintroduce the parliamentary form of government in place of the presidential. Begum Khaleda Zia took oath as the prime minister under the new system on 19 September 1991.

While in power, Begum Zia's government made considerable progress in the education sector, including introduction of free and compulsory primary education, tuition-free education for girls up to class ten, stipend for female students and the Food for Education programme. It also goes to the credit of her government that during this period, the tree plantation had become a nationwide social movement. Further, it was in this period. That the construction of the Jamuna Bridge was begun. Khaleda Zia played a commendable role in revitalising the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

Begum Zia became the prime minister for a second consecutive term after BNP emerged victorious in the general elections for the 6th Jatiya Sangsad on 15 February 1996. All major political parties, however, had boycotted the elections. Their demand was to make amendment to the Constitution for making the provision for a neutral caretaker government for conducting national elections. To meet the demands, the 6th Jatiya Sangsad made the 13th amendment to the constitution, after which the parliament was dissolved and Begum Zia handed over power to a caretaker administration on 30 March 1996. In the polls that followed on 12 June 1996, BNP was narrowly defeated by the awami league.

During the period of Awami League government in 1996-2001, Begum Khaleda Zia worked hard as a strong Leader of the Opposition in parliament. In the national elections held under a neutral caretaker government on 1 October 2001, the BNP-led four-party alliance won more than two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. On 10 October 2001, Begum Khaleda Zia was sworn-in as the country's prime minister for the third time. [Helal Uddin Ahmed]