Khaleda Zia's 82nd birthday today 

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will hold nationwide prayers, milad and munajat programmes today (Saturday), marking the 82nd birthday of former Prime Minister and former BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia. The party will also distribute donations among poor and helpless people.

A prayer, milad and donation distribution programme will be held at 3pm at the T&T field at Mohakhali under the Dhaka-17 parliamentary constituency. 

BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will attend the programme as the chief guest.

Earlier, at 11am, a special prayer and munajat will be held at the BNP central office in Naya Paltan for the forgiveness of Khaleda Zia's departed soul. Senior BNP leaders will attend the programme.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programmes in a press release issued on Friday.

According to the release, BNP and its affiliated and associate organisations will hold milad and doa mahfils at party offices or mosques across the country, including Dhaka. Leaders, activists and supporters at all levels have been requested to join the programmes.

Khaleda Zia was sentenced to five years in prison in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018, during the Awami League government. Later, she was sentenced to another seven years in the Zia Charitable Trust case. Her total sentence in different cases reached 17 years.

While in prison, she was kept in a solitary cell at the old central jail on Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka. She was the only prisoner in the cell. In March 2020, the government suspended her sentence through an executive order and allowed her to stay at home. She was released on conditions on March 25, 2020.

During her imprisonment she had suffered from various health complications, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis and diabetes. She also had chronic problems with her kidneys, lungs, heart and eyes.
Following the political changes in 2024, she was acquitted and released from all cases.

Khaleda Zia died on December 30 while undergoing treatment at a hospital. She was 80. A three-time prime minister, she remained BNP chairperson until her death. At a press conference at Evercare Hospital on the day of her death, then BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced her death in a tearful voice.