Ex-PM Khaleda Zia's Political Heir Returns To Bangladesh After 17 Years

By Shakir Husain

NEW DELHI, Dec 25 (Bernama) -- Enthusiastic supporters welcomed former Bangladesh prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia's son and political heir Tarique Rahman in Dhaka on Thursday as he returned to the country from Britain after 17 years in exile.

Tarique left London on Wednesday evening on a regular Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, which made a one-hour stopover at Sylhet before reaching Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11.40 am (Bangladesh time), local media reported.

The 60-year-old leader was accompanied by his wife Zubaida and daughter Zaima.

His Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not announce any mass gathering on his day of return but Tarique's schedule included an address at a public event on his way to Dhaka's Evercare Hospital to see his ailing mother.

"This is neither a public meeting nor a formal reception programme. It is simply an event for him to express his sincere gratitude to the countrymen and to seek prayers for the well-being of Begum Khaleda Zia and all citizens," BNP official Salahuddin Ahmed said on Wednesday.

Tarique had a phone conversation with interim government Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus soon after his arrival and thanked him for the arrangements made for his security and the homecoming events, news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported.

Tarique became the party's acting chairman after Khaleda was imprisoned in 2018 in a corruption case many believed was trumped up due to her bitter political rivalry with former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August 2024 after being ousted in a mass uprising.

Tarique is the eldest son of two-term prime minister Khaleda and late Bangladesh president and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman.

He is expected to visit the grave of his father on Friday.

Like other opposition groups, the BNP and its members faced heavy crackdown during the rule of Hasina and her Awami League.

Tarique is also expected to visit the grave of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent youth leader in the anti-Hasina mass movement who was assassinated in Dhaka this month.

The BNP acting chief will contest the Bogura-6 constituency, formerly won by his mother, in the upcoming national election, according to Bangladeshi media reports.

The BNP is seen as a top contender in the Feb 12 parliamentary election.

Other key parties are the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP), which emerged from the July Uprising that ended Hasina's 15-year rule.

The Bangladesh interim leader's press secretary Shafiqul Alam said on Wednesday the Awami League cannot take part in the elections because its activities are banned and the Election Commission has scrapped its registration as a political party.

Hasina has been sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal for her role in the deadly 2024 crackdown in which more than 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured between July 15 and Aug 5.

-- BERNAMA