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New Delhi: Tarique Rahman, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman and elder son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia is set to return to the country today, ending his nearly 17 years in exile in London. Rahman's return comes at a time when Bangladesh has been witnessing widespread protests over the killing of youth leader Osman Hadi.
Rahman, 60, is being seen as the frontrunner for the prime minister post in the upcoming general elections in February, given the deteriorating health condition of his mother and three-time PM Zia. The BNP said that Rahman's return will be a defining political moment for the country. If BNP wins the election, Rahman may take over the country's top political role, facing the difficult task of leading Bangladesh at a time it is grappling with political, economic, and institutional challenges.
While Rahman's party has planned a grand welcome for him and decided to gather millions of supporters as a show of strength, Muhammad Yunus-led interim government has ordered a tight security arrangement in view of his return. "We have taken both covert and overt security measures as part of our enhanced vigil over his return,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch chief Nazrul Islam told reporters.
Rahman to visit ailing mother, Osman Hadi's grave
Rahman is expected to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:55 am local time. According to the BNP, Rahman would travel directly from the airport to the reception venue before visiting his ailing mother Khaleda Zia. She is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Dhaka for multiple health issues.
The BNP leader is expected to give a speech at the reception. Following this, he will visit his 80-year-old ailing mother at Evercare Hospital in Bashundhara. He is also scheduled to visit the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation and meet those injured in the July 2024 Uprising.
Meanwhile, security at the airport has been stepped up with the Bangladesh civil aviation authority restricting visitors' entry for 24 hours from Wednesday evening to avoid congestion. The law enforcement agencies have been directed to remain vigilant and adopt top-tier security measures.
On Saturday, Rahman will be formally registered as a voter. He is also scheduled to visit the grave of Osman Hadi, the youth leader who was recently shot and killed, near the Dhaka University Central Mosque.
Why Rahman's return assumes significance
Rahman's return to Bangladesh comes as the BNP's acting chairman is being considered as the leading contender for the PM post amid a major shift in the country's political landscape following the ouster of the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in a student-led violent movement in August last year.
Since 1991, power has alternated between Zia and Hasina, apart from brief transition administrations. After the interim government disbanded Hasina's Awami League, Zia's BNP has emerged as the frontrunner in the changed political landscape. Jamaat-e-Islami and its Islamist allies are the main and only rivals of the BNP.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir earlier said that the party would name Rahman as the nominee for the next head of the government if three-time prime minister and his mother Zia's health does not improve.
Rahman's return to the country is also being seen as a crucial political development against the backdrop of the recent Bangladesh unrest over the killing of Hadi that has put the Yunus-led interim government in the spot. Hadi, a youth leader who was at the forefront of the 2024 student protest, was shot in the head in Dhaka on December 12. Days later, he was airlifted to Singapore, where he died on December 18 after several days of treatment. Following his death, his supporters went on a rampage, setting ablaze and vandalising the offices of several leading media houses.
Hadi's brother on Wednesday accused the Yunus government of orchestrating Hadi's killing to delay the February general election and said that he would also be compelled to flee the country like Hasina.
