Jalpaiguri: Jalpaiguri town has been plunged into mourning following the death of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. Although she later emerged as one of Bangladesh’s most influential political leaders, her roots lie in Jalpaiguri, then part of undivided Greater Dinajpur.
Khaleda Zia was born in the Nayabasti area, now Ward No. 8 under the Jalpaiguri Municipality, where she spent her early childhood. News of her death early Tuesday morning, after a prolonged illness, has cast a deep shadow of grief across the town. A three-time Prime Minister of Bangladesh and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Khaleda Zia was also the country’s first woman Prime Minister.
Her father, Mohammad Iskandar Majumder, worked at Das & Company, a firm engaged in banking and share trading in Jalpaiguri. Khaleda Zia began her education at the town’s Sadar Primary School. Locally, she was affectionately known as “Putul.” However, controversy remains regarding her year of birth, as official records were reportedly destroyed during the devastating Jalpaiguri floods of 1968.
Following the Partition of India, Khaleda Zia’s family moved to East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, through a property exchange. Their Jalpaiguri residence was handed over to the Chakraborty family. Although Khaleda Zia herself never returned to Jalpaiguri, her relatives continued to visit the town regularly and paid respects at their ancestral land, most recently last year.
District Sports Association secretary and neighbour Bhola Mondal said: “Khaleda Zia was born on the land opposite our house and was brought up in my mother’s lap. After Partition, her family moved to East Pakistan following a property exchange. We lived together peacefully—Christians, Muslims and Hindus alike. There was never any discord. Her family was polite and respectful as neighbours.”
The news of her passing has also deeply affected her former school. Headmaster Arup Dey of Jalpaiguri Sadar Primary Girls’ School expressed condolences on behalf of the institution. He said the school is currently closed for holidays, and discussions are underway to organise a condolence meeting once it reopens.
As Jalpaiguri remembers one of its most prominent daughters, the town joins Bangladesh and the world in mourning the loss of a towering political figure.