Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP) performing chairman Tarique Rahman and a number one determine in opposition politics is scheduled to land in Dhaka on Thursday, ending greater than 17 years of self-exile within the UK. His return ends a protracted interval overseas that started in 2008, when he left Bangladesh for medical therapy amid heightened authorized and political pressures at residence.His return comes at a time when the nation has been marred by a sequence of violent incidents, weeks after the announcement of parliamentary elections slated for February 12.Rahman, the elder son of former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, is broadly seen because the get together’s principal face forward of the polls, significantly as Zia stays unwell.
Because the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has witnessed recurring spells of violence. The latest killing of youth chief and key determine in Hasina’s ouster, Osman Hadi, has reignited tensions, with Hadi’s brother alleging that the homicide was geared toward “sabotaging polls”.Rahman’s homecoming has been facilitated by the interim authorities. Earlier this month, overseas advisor Md Touhid Hossain mentioned the federal government might subject a “one-time” journey move inside a day if Rahman wished to return. Chief advisor Muhammad Yunus additionally mentioned Rahman’s return at a latest assembly, in response to officers.BNP leaders mentioned Rahman will full formalities to turn into a registered voter on December 27, a step that will permit him to play a direct function in electoral politics.Rahman earlier informed BBC Bangla, “For some affordable causes my return has not occurred… however the time has come, and I’ll return quickly… I’m operating within the election [as well].”
Who’s Tarique Rahman
Tarique Rahman, 58, is the elder son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and performing chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion. He has lived in self-exile in London since 2008 after leaving Bangladesh amid a number of felony convictions, together with cash laundering and prices linked to an alleged plot to assassinate then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.Over the previous yr, Bangladesh’s greater courts have acquitted him in all main instances, together with the 2004 grenade assault and the Zia Orphanage Belief graft case, clearing authorized hurdles to his political return. Broadly thought to be the BNP’s de facto chief, Rahman has now introduced plans to return and contest the February 2026 normal elections.
Rahman’s schedule
Based on BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed, senior get together leaders will obtain Rahman on the airport earlier than he proceeds to a reception venue on the July Expressway, also called the 300 Ft Street, the place he’s anticipated to deal with the nation.He’ll then go to Khaleda Zia on the hospital and return to his residence in Gulshan-2, Ahmed mentioned. Particulars of Rahman’s first three days again have been outlined by Ahmed at a press convention on Wednesday, as reported by Prothom Alo.On Friday, December 26, Rahman is slated to go to the grave of BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, adopted by a go to to the Nationwide Martyrs’ Monument in Savar.On Saturday, December 27, he’s anticipated to finish nationwide identification card procedures to turn into a voter, go to the grave of martyred Osman Hadi at Dhaka College, and meet these injured within the July mass rebellion on the Nationwide Orthopaedic Hospital in Shyamoli, Prothom Alo reported.
Khaleda Zia’s tenure
Bangladesh during the last three many years has alternated energy between two rivals, now-ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Rahman’s mom, former prime minister Khaleda Zia.Zia was the primary feminine prime minister of Bangladesh and served from 1991 to 1995, and once more from 2001 to 2006. Her tenure stays contemporary in public reminiscence, significantly amongst political factions that ousted Hasina on allegations of corruption. Her regime additionally noticed allegations of atrocities and discrimination in opposition to minorities. In 2018, Zia was sentenced to 5 years in jail on graft prices.
A brand new political panorama
Bangladesh’s political order has been reshaped following the violent 2024 rebellion that led to Sheikh Hasina’s ouster and the disbanding of her Awami League by the interim authorities led by Muhammad Yunus.With the Awami League barred from elections, conventional alliances have fractured, together with the long-standing BNP–Jamaat partnership. The emergence of the student-led Nationwide Citizen Occasion, born out of the July protests and now registered with the Election Fee, has added additional uncertainty to an already fluid electoral panorama.
Why the BNP is betting huge on Rahman
With Khaleda Zia, 80, battling well being points, the BNP sees Tarique Rahman as its most viable chief going into the primary election in practically 20 years with out the Awami League. His choice to contest indicators an effort to consolidate get together unity, reclaim the Zia household’s political legacy, and mission the BNP because the principal governing various.Political observers view the BNP as a frontrunner, and Rahman is being tipped as a attainable prime ministerial candidate if the get together secures a majority.
India ties
India-Bangladesh relations have sharply deteriorated since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster and her political asylum in India, the place she continues to reside regardless of arrest warrants and extradition requests from Dhaka.The BNP has criticised New Delhi for sheltering Hasina, with Rahman saying India dangers alienating the Bangladeshi public by doing so. A BNP return to energy might additional pressure ties, given the get together’s traditionally nearer relations with Pakistan, in distinction to Hasina’s pro-India stance that included cooperation in opposition to rebel and extremist networks.
Islamic radicals loom
Because the BNP regains political prominence, it faces rising challenges from rising mob violence and the resurgence of Islamist teams advocating stricter non secular norms. Occasion leaders have warned in opposition to makes an attempt to impose Shariah regulation and curtail girls’s freedoms, cautioning that extremist forces are searching for to interchange liberal democratic politics.Current assaults on non secular websites and political workplaces, together with survey information displaying widespread public concern over mob violence, underline the dangers confronting the BNP because it prepares for elections.The political stakes are excessive. Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League has been barred from contesting the upcoming elections, leaving the BNP as a frontrunner. The BNP-led alliance is about to face a coalition headed by Jamaat-e-Islami.Rahman and the BNP have beforehand pressed the interim administration for early elections and, in Might, questioned Yunus’ mandate to take long-term overseas coverage choices, arguing that such authority rests with an elected authorities.
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