WEB DESK: Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, will be laid to rest in Dhaka today. Funeral prayers will take place near Parliament House, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq will represent Pakistan at her funeral prayers.
The Bangladeshi government has declared three days of national mourning. Khaleda Zia will receive full state honors and be buried next to her husband, former president Ziaur Rahman.
After battling multiple illnesses, including a liver condition, she passed away on Tuesday following prolonged treatment in a Dhaka hospital.
Serving as prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and 2001 to 2006, she was Bangladesh’s first female head of government and the second in the Muslim world after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.
Representatives from India, Bhutan, and the Maldives are also expected at the ceremony.
