BNP Heir Tarique Rahman Returns to Bangladesh After 17 Years in Exile

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Dhaka: After nearly 17 years in exile, Tarique Rahman, the 60-year-old acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), returned to Dhaka on Thursday to a massive reception from hundreds of thousands of supporters. Upon his arrival, Rahman performed a symbolic gesture by stepping barefoot onto the soil and pledged to build a secure, inclusive, and democratic nation that unites people of all faiths. His return follows the overturning of several convictions, including charges of money laundering and an alleged assassination plot, which were cleared after the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year. As the heir to one of Bangladesh’s most powerful political families, Rahman is expected to take over the party leadership from his ailing mother, Khaleda Zia, and fill a critical power vacuum ahead of the upcoming elections.

While his return has energized the BNP, Rahman faces the challenge of stabilizing a deeply polarized country. Although the current interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus remains popular, it has struggled to maintain law and order due to the lingering influence of the previous administration within the security forces. Rahman’s supporters view him as a unifying figure who can restore economic stability and democratic governance, though his return comes amid ongoing debates regarding the exclusion of Hasina’s party from the electoral process. Having originally fled to London in 2008 for medical treatment following alleged torture in custody, Rahman now positions himself as a central figure in the rebuilding of Bangladesh's political landscape.