DHAKA — Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Wednesday to pay their final respects to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Mourners traveled from across the country to bid farewell to the towering political leader in a state funeral.

TV footage showed huge crowds streaming in toward the national parliament building on Manik Mia Avenue, where her coffin, draped in the national flag, was taken in a convoy. About 10,000 security personnel were lining the streets to maintain order, officials said.

Zia, the first woman to serve as prime minister in the South Asian nation when she became premier in 1991, died on Tuesday aged 80, after a prolonged illness.

Bangladesh has declared three days of state mourning, while tributes have flowed from world leaders as mourners farewell a politician viewed as a figurehead of the country’s democratic movement.

Zia's body will be interred in a park outside the parliament building alongside her late husband, Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981 during his time as president.

The mourners held out their hands in prayer and carried flags printed with her photographs as a motorcade carrying Zia's body — including the hearse wrapped with the national flag - drove on streets near the parliament house.

Flags were flown at half-mast and thousands of security officers have been deployed.

"I have come this far just to say goodbye. I know I won't be able to see her face, but at least I could see the [vehicle] carrying her for the last rites," Setara Sultana, an activist from Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), told the BBC.

One mourner, Sharmina Siraj, told the AFP news agency that Zia was “an inspiration”, saying it was “difficult to imagine women in leadership positions anytime soon”.

Siraj, a 40-year-old mother of two, said stipends introduced by Zia to support girls’ education “had a huge impact on the lives of our girls”.

Watching from behind a barbed wire barricade as Zia’s body passed by, retired government official Minhaz Uddin told AFP that while he had never voted for her, he came to honour the former leader.

“I came here with my grandson, just to say goodbye to a veteran politician whose contributions will always be remembered,” he said.

Zia’s son Tarique Rahman, who returned to Bangladesh on Thursday after 17 years in self-imposed exile in the UK, said in a statement that the country was mourning “the loss of a guiding presence that shaped its democratic aspirations”.

His mother, he said, had “endured repeated arrests, denial of medical care, and relentless persecution”, but “her resilience … was unbreakable”.

Rahman, the acting chairman of Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, “will possibly be the next prime minister” if his party wins the elections in February.

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Bhutan's Foreign Minister Lyonpo DN Dhungyel were among those who attended the funeral.

Earlier in the day, Zia's body was taken to the house of her son Tarique Rahman.

The state funeral marks the end of Zia's extraordinary journey, from a homemaker to the first female prime minister of Bangladesh.

The fact that hundreds of thousands of people, including those who didn't vote for her party, turned up for the funeral would be seen as a reflection of her popularity among the masses.

Those who worked with her recall a leader who asked probing questions while making key decisions. As economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya noted, she left a lasting impression as "a political leader who appreciated ideas and valued informed decision-making".

In her later years, Zia suffered from multiple health problems. Despite this, the BNP said she had intended to run for parliament in February 2026, when the country will vote for the first time since a popular revolution last year unseated Hasina.

According to the party's candidate list released earlier this month, Zia was to contest in three constituencies.

The party is eyeing a return to power, and if that happens, her son is expected to become the country's new leader. Rahman, 60, had only returned to Bangladesh last week after 17 years in self-imposed exile in London.

"The country mourns the loss of a guiding presence that shaped its democratic aspirations," Rahman said following his mother's passing on Tuesday. — Agencies