Dhaka

Bangladesh's President Md Shahabuddin on Tuesday expressed deep sorrow and grief over the death of former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia.

In a condolence message, the president said Zia’s uncompromising role in establishing democracy and safeguarding the rights of the people would be remembered in the political history of Bangladesh, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

At this moment of irreparable national loss, he prayed for the forgiveness of the departed soul and extended his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, party leaders and followers.

The president also urged the people of the country to honour the memory of the deceased and pray for her eternal peace.

The longtime chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) and a three-time prime minister died earlier in the day in Dhaka after a prolonged illness. She was 80.

Zia's funeral will be held on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday described the death of Zia as “irreparable”, saying the nation would never be able to fill the void created by her death.

“We never imagined that we would have to stand before you with this news. We were hopeful that just like before, she would recover once again. But we’re now devastated,” he said in an emotional voice during a briefing at the Evercare Hospital on Tuesday morning.

Fakhrul further said: “As you have already heard, the head of the medical board, Professor Shahabuddin Talukder, announced that at 6am our Mother of Democracy, the guardian of the nation, left us... This grief, this loss, is unusual and irreparable. This nation will never be able to make up for it,” he said.

He said Zia devoted her entire life to the rights and welfare of the people.

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“That leader, who dedicated her whole life to the rights and well-being of people, our leader Begum Khaleda Zia, is no longer with us. For us, her colleagues and political workers, this is something we cannot yet comprehend,” the BNP leader said.

He said her death created a huge vacuum not only in Bangladesh’s politics but also in democratic movements worldwide.