New upheaval in Bangladesh politics, Tariq Rahman returns home after 17 years

New upheaval in Bangladesh politics, Tariq Rahman returns home after 17 years

Tariq Rahman, heir to Bangladesh's long-ruling family and leader of its most powerful political party, is returning home on Thursday after 17 years in exile. His return comes as Bangladesh heads to crucial elections.

According to the French news agency AFP, Tariq Rahman, 60, moved to London after being exiled from Bangladesh in 2008. He said he was exiled for political reasons.

As interim chairman of the BNP, he will take over the leadership of the party from his ailing mother, 80-year-old former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Despite years of illness and imprisonment, Khaleda Zia had promised in November that she would contest the February 12, 2026 elections. However, she was moved to the hospital soon after the announcement and is in intensive care there.

The most serious charge against Tariq Rahman since Sheikh Hasina's ouster has been dropped. The charge related to a grenade attack on a Hasina rally in 2004, for which he was sentenced to life in prison in absentia. Tariq Rahman had denied the charge.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that ‘Tariq Rehman will arrive among us on the soil of Dhaka on December 25. He has described December 25 as a wonderful day.’ The party’s banners used to have pictures of Tariq Rehman with Khaleda Zia and he has been being groomed for the party leadership for a long time.

 

In London in June this year, he met with Bangladesh’s interim government chief, Muhammad Yunus, to discuss matters leading up to the February elections.

Rehman, known as Tariq Zia, has been a political figure all his life.

He was born in 1967 when the country was still called East Pakistan and was briefly imprisoned during the 1971 war of independence. The BNP describes him as “one of the youngest prisoners of war”. His father, Ziaur Rahman, was a military commander.

Ziaur Rahman rose to power a few months after the 1975 military coup that killed Sheikh Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

This led to a feud between Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina’s families, known as the “Battle of the Begums”. Begum here means “powerful woman”.

Ziaur Rahman was killed when Rehman Tariq was 15.

He studied International Relations at Dhaka University and then entered politics at the age of 23. He joined the BNP and fought against the military ruler Hussain Muhammad Arshad.

Despite this, Tariq Rahman's career has been plagued by allegations of nepotism and mismanagement.

A 2006 US embassy report said he “inspires some but also terrifies many.”

Other reports have described him as a symbol of corrupt government and violent politics, and accused him of being “incredibly corrupt.” Tariq Rahman has dismissed the allegations as “political.”

Tariq Rahman was arrested in 2007 on corruption charges and claimed he was tortured in detention.

His release was reportedly conditional on his renunciation of politics. After his release that year, he went to London for medical treatment in 2008 and never returned.

After Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, Tariq Rahman became vocal on social media and attracted the attention of BNP supporters.