Foreign diplomats sign condolence book honouring Khaleda Zia

Staff Reporter :

Several foreign diplomats on Tuesday signed a condolence book opened at the BNP chairperson’s political office in Gulshan following the death of former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, widely regarded by her party as the “Mother of Democracy”.

The condolence book was opened at 3:00pm at the Gulshan office to allow diplomats, political leaders and distinguished personalities to pay tribute to the late national leader.
Representatives from different countries visited the office to express their condolences and record messages of sympathy.

Diplomatic representatives from China, Pakistan, the Netherlands, India and Switzerland were among those who signed the condolence book.

Those who paid their respects included Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen, Pakistan High Commissioner Imran Haider, newly appointed Netherlands Ambassador Joris Franciscus Gerardus Van Bommel, Oman Ambassador Jamil Haji Ismail Al Balushi and India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma.

Besides, representatives from the embassies of Sweden, the Netherlands and Iran signed the condolence book.

According to BNP Media Cell, Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen was the first to sign the book.
Leaders of BNP’s allied political parties also began arriving at the Gulshan office one by one to convey their condolences. Among them, Revolutionary Workers’ Party General Secretary Saiful Haque and Bangladesh Jatiya Party Chairman Andalib Rahman Partha signed the condolence book.

BNP Media Cell member Shairul Kabir Khan said the condolence book was opened to enable well wishers to express sympathy for Khaleda Zia, whom he described as a symbol of democratic struggle in Bangladesh.

He said the book would remain open from 3:00pm to 9:00pm on Tuesday, from 4:00pm to 9:00pm on Wednesday, 31 December, and from 10:00am to 6:00pm on Thursday, 1 January, at the Gulshan office.

Alongside the Gulshan venue, another condolence book has been opened at the BNP central office in Nayapaltan, where people from all walks of life are expected to pay their respects and convey condolences.

Begum Khaleda Zia passed away at around 6:00am on Tuesday while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. She was 80.

She served as prime minister for three terms, from 1991 to 1996, briefly after the February 1996 election, and again from 2001 to 2006. Khaleda Zia is recognised as the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second elected woman prime minister in the Muslim world.

Apart from foreign diplomats, Interim Government Security Adviser Dr Khalilur Rahman, Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul, Cultural Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, and Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser Shafiqul Alam signed the condolence book.

Following her death, tributes have continued to pour in from home and abroad. BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, in a message mourning his mother, described her as “a beacon of strength and inspiration in the most difficult times,” reflecting the deep personal and political loss felt across the party and beyond.