Bangladesh Opposition leader and son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman, returned to the country after 17 years in exile on Thursday, December 25, terming his absence “politically motivated persecution.”
Rahman, the acting chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), returned to Dhaka from London, where he was living since 2008.
According to Al Jazeera, a large number of supporters lined up on the route from the airport to the reception venue. They waved party flags, carried placards flowers and banners as the BNP leaders received Rahman at the airport.
Rahman waved to the crowd with a smile. Prior to his arrival, the BNP announced it would gather 5 million supporters in Dhaka to welcome Rahman, for what it called an “unprecedented” mobilisation.
The acting chairman’s arrival comes at a time when the BNP is gaining momentum after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheik Hasina in 2024.
Rahman is expected to bring unity to the currently polarised country, even while there is criticism that Hasina’s party is not being allowed to participate in the upcoming election, Al Jazeera reported.
It also claimed that Rahman could also gain more support in the near future since the current leader of the interim government, Nobel laurette Mohammed Yunus, has not been able to maintain law and order in the country.
Rahman’s exile
The acting chairman of the BNP was unable to return to Bangladesh since he was facing multipe criminal charges.
He was convicted in absentia on charges that included money laundering and a case linked to an alleged plot to assassinate Hasina, but the rulings were overturned after Hasina was ousted last year in a student-led uprising, clearing the legal barriers for Rahman’s return.
Rahman had gone to London for medical treatment after he was allegedly tortured while in custody during the military-backed government that ruled from 2006 to 2008. “Rahman would travel from the airport to a reception venue before visiting his mother,” BNP officials were quoted as saying.
The political landscape has shifted drastically since Hasina’s removal from power, ending decades in which she and Khaleda Zia largely alternated in office.
Khaleda Zia, a former homemaker, came to politics after her husband, former military chief and then president Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in a military coup in 1981. A non-elected government backed by the military took over in 2006 during a period of political crisis.
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