Dhaka, Dec. 30 -- For over four decades, Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's first woman prime minister, led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for 41 consecutive years as its chairperson, shaping not only her own remarkable political journey but also the course of the nation's turbulent politics.

Khaleda Zia, who entered politics as a homemaker with no prior political experience following the assassination of her husband and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman in 1981, went on to shape a remarkable 43-year political journey.

To keep the party united amid internal divisions and political uncertainty following Ziaur Rahman's death and the military takeover by General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, senior BNP leaders persuaded Khaleda Zia to join politics in Ja...