The passing of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Tuesday sent waves of sorrow not just across the nation she led but also across the border to a quiet town in north Bengal. Jalpaiguri, located nearly 434 kilometres from Dhaka, mourned the loss of a daughter who began her life within its confines.
Jalpaiguri's Daughter: Early Life and Family Ties
Khaleda Zia was born in Jalpaiguri in 1945 and spent her formative years there. Her father, Mohammad Iskandar, worked as an agent at the local tea trading firm Das & Co., owned by the family of present-day resident Nilanjan Dasgupta. "Zia was born at their Nayabasti house in the town. Even after Partition, her family continued to reside in Jalpaiguri, and they moved to erstwhile East Pakistan only in the 1950s," recounted Dasgupta.
Historian Umesh Sharma detailed her early education, noting she first attended Jogmaya Primary School in the Nayabasti area up to class 3. She was later admitted to Sunitibala Sadar Girls' School in Samaj Para. Sharma explained that the family's eventual migration followed a formal property exchange. "Iskandar went for a property exchange with one Amarendranath Chakraborty and moved to East Pakistan. Chakraborty's family still stays at the house at Nayabasti," he said.
Enduring Bonds Across Borders
Despite the political division of the subcontinent, personal connections forged in childhood proved resilient. Nilanjan Dasgupta shared a poignant memory of Zia's close friend, Siyon Mandal, who later became a teacher. "I still remember how Siyondi was elated when Zia came to office in Bangladesh. The news of her demise has left people who knew her sorry," he said.
These bonds were maintained by family visits over the decades. Suhrid Mandal, a neighbour of the Zia family's old home, revealed, "Zia's relatives often visited Jalpaiguri to see her residence. All of them would board at my house. Her niece came only a couple of months ago to see Zia's birthplace." He expressed a shared sentiment of loss, stating, "We often talked about how good it would have been if the country was never partitioned. Her loss is mourned by people in Bangladesh as well as here."
A Legacy Remembered in Her Birthplace
The sense of personal loss in Jalpaiguri is palpable, transforming a geopolitical event into a local tragedy. For the residents, it is the passing of someone they still consider one of their own. The institutions that shaped her early years are also acknowledging this connection.
Arup Dey, the primary section headmaster of Sunitibala Sadar Girls' School, confirmed the historical link. "I learnt that Khaleda was a student here. We are planning to hold a condolence once the classes resume," he stated. This planned tribute underscores the lasting imprint of Khaleda Zia's early life in Jalpaiguri, a chapter that now forms a poignant part of her legacy, cherished on both sides of the border.
