Dhaka [Bangladesh], December 26: Tarique Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and frontrunner to be the country's next prime minister, returned to Dhaka on Thursday after 17 years in exile, to a rousing welcome by thousands of his party's supporters.
Rahman, long seen as a prince of Bangladeshi politics, got down at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, alongside his wife Zubaida and daughter Zaima, and stood barefoot on Bangladeshi soil amid heavy security.
Rahman's symbolic gestures marking his return to Bangladesh come at a crucial juncture in the country's politics, and represent a major shot in the arm to the BNP cadre and leaders. An interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has been in power since August 2024, following the ouster of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a student-led uprising. The Yunus administration has announced elections on February 12, after which it is to peacefully transfer power to an elected government.
As the de facto leader of the BNP, Bangladesh's largest political party, Rahman might be holding the nation's reins soon. Rahman, 60, is the eldest son of former Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia, who in 1991 became the country's first female prime minister.
Rahman has lived in London since 2008 and has led the BNP as acting chairman since 2018, when his ailing mother, Zia, was jailed under the rule of her political rival and then prime minister, Hasina.
He became a major public figure during his mother's second term in power, from 2001 to 2006. But he also drew allegations of cronyism, corruption and political violence. A military-backed caretaker government that held office between 2006 and early 2009 investigated those allegations.
In March 2007, he was arrested by army units that dramatically pulled up outside his luxury Dhaka house late at night. Months later, he was released on bail and flew to the United Kingdom for medical treatment- not returning until Thursday. Rahman and the BNP have consistently described the accusations against him as politically motivated, but his reputation for corruption extended beyond his political opponents.He was subsequently convicted by the Awami League government on charges of money laundering, fraud and political violence - including a grenade attack on rival Hasina's rally in 2004 that killed at least 20 people.
Addressing his supporters at a rally in Dhaka on Thursday, Rahman said, "Just like 1971, people from all walks of life, all together, defended the independence and sovereignty of this country in 2024," referring to the country's war of independence from Pakistan in 1971, and Hasina's ouster last year.
He called for an inclusive Bangladesh, saying, "It is time for us all to build the country together. We want to build a safe Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, no matter who a woman, man, or child is, they should be able to leave their homes safely and return safely."
Since 1991, Khaleda and Hasina - two female leaders of opposing political dynasties - have alternated power for more than three decades, barring a few transitional heads.
Hasina, who led the Awami League, entered politics after the assassination of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding president, who was killed along with most of his family in a military coup in August 1975; Khaleda rose after the assassination of her husband, Ziaur Rahman, a former army chief who became president and was killed in a failed coup in May 1981.
The parties have remained political rivals for decades, except for a brief period when they joined forces to regain power from a military leader, General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, in the late 1980s.
After years at the helm in Dhaka, Hasina was confronted last year by a popular, student-led uprising. Ultimately, protesters overran her residence after she fled Bangladesh by helicopter on August 5, 2024, to India. Last month, Hasina was sentenced to death by hanging after she was found guilty of crimes against humanity for ordering the deadly crackdown against the student-led uprising, by a tribunal. The Awami League, her party, has been barred from participating in the February elections.
The BNP is seen as the frontrunner to secure a majority vote in the upcoming elections, which would mark a return to the government after nearly two decades for the party.
Source: Qatar Tribune