Khaleda Zia Funeral highlights: S Jaishankar meets Pak National Assembly Speaker during Khaleda Zia's funeral

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A man who had come to attend the funeral prayers of former prime minister Khaleda Zia fell ill and died at Dhaka's Manik Mia Avenue, reported Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo. According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the man has been identified as Md Nirob Hossain (56), based on an identity card found on him.

Lakhs of people had gathered in central Dhaka to attend the funeral prayer.

Addressing the ongoing atrocities against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said that no crisis can touch the Hindu community if they are unified and remain strong and stable.

A large pool of crowd is entering the Zia maidan to see the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, for the last time.

Minister of Foreign Affairs S Jaishankar exchanged greetings with Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq during Khaleda Zia's funeral in Bangladesh.

Following India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar's visit to Bangladesh, Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, wrote on X that India and Bangladesh would work together and write a new chapter in the coming time. 

He further emphasised the importance of the discussion held by Tarique Rahman and S Jaishankar.

The former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was laid to rest beside her husband Ziaur Rahman's grave. 

Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar is present at the funeral and he handed over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's condolence letter to Zia's son Tarique Rahman.

Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister, was laid to rest on Wednesday after funeral prayers in Dhaka. She was buried at Chandrima Uddan next to her husband, the late President Ziaur Rahman. Khaleda Zia passed away after a prolonged illness, marking the end of an era in Bangladesh’s political history.

Television visuals showed BNP Acting Chairman and eldest son Tarique Rahman standing with party leaders and family members as funeral rites progressed, with thousands of mourners gathering to pay their final respects in Dhaka.

The coffin of former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is now being taken to Chandrima Uddan in Dhaka, where her husband and former President Ziaur Rahman is buried. The final journey marks the concluding phase of the funeral rites as mourners line the route to pay their last respects.

The funeral procession of BNP Chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia ends at Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka. Large crowds gathered along the avenue to attended the procession and paid their final respects as the solemn ceremony moved forward under tight security arrangements.

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman briefly addressed the gathering on Wednesday as funeral proceedings for former prime minister Khaleda Zia continued at the Parliament complex area in Dhaka. Television visuals showed a silent crowd listening attentively as he spoke about his mother moments before the namaz-e-janaza began.

Mufti Abdul Malek appeared visibly emotional while addressing the gathering at Khaleda Zia’s funeral, pausing several times as he spoke about the former prime minister’s life and legacy. Television visuals from Bangladeshi news outlets indicated that the namaz-e-janaza was expected to begin shortly as his address came to an end.

Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq met with BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman to express his condolences. The meeting was announced in a post on BNP's verified Facebook page at around 1.50 pm on Wednesday.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, a leader of the Nawaz Sharif–led PML-N, had claimed in 2020 that Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, following India's Balakot airstrikes in 2019, was "trembling with fear" and had insisted on releasing Indian Air Force officer Abhinandan Varthaman to avert an Indian invasion. The statement sparked a row, drawing sharp criticism from the ISPR and the Pakistani government, according to a Dawn report.

Chief of Bangladesh's interim administration Muhammad Yunus, army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman, along with several other advisors of the regime have assembled outside the Bangladeshi Parliament for farewell prayer of former PM Khaleda Zia.

The funeral of former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia is set to begin shortly in Dhaka. A massive crowd has assembled along Manik Mia Avenue, where citizens, party workers and leaders are gathering to pay their last respects amid heightened security arrangements.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Wednesday afternoon and handed over India’s condolence message following Khaleda Zia’s death. According to a post on BNP’s verified Facebook page around 1:30 pm, the message expressed India’s deep respect for the late former prime minister and was conveyed at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

Bhola Mandal, a person from the neighbourhood in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri, where Khaleda Zia's lived in before the Partition, told news agency ANI, "She was born here and studied here. After that, when the house was exiled as Khaleda Zia's family went to Bangladesh, another person from Bangladesh came here and bought this house... Many people from Bangladesh come here and visit their native home..."

Thousands of people flock to attend the funeral prayer of former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia. A sea of mourners fill Dhaka's Manik Mia Avenue near the Parliament, reported Dhaka-based daily Prothom Alo. The motorcade carrying Zia's mortal remains departed from Tarique Rahman's residence at Gulshan Avenue at 11.04 am. The convoy, which also includes a red-and-green BNP bus, is carrying Tarique Rahman, his wife Zubaida Rahman, daughter Zaima Rahman, Arafat Rahman's wife, and other family members to the funeral venue.

Following the funeral prayers at the National Parliament, Khaleda Zia will be laid to rest beside her husband, late President Ziaur Rahman, at Zia Udyan in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. The former prime minister passed away at Evercare Hospital around 6 am on Tuesday after undergoing medical treatment for over a month.