Salahuddin: Tarique Rahman likely to return home by end of November

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed has said the party’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman is likely to return home by the end of this month, ending his 17-year exile in London.

“We are hopeful he may come back by the end of this month. If not, it might be delayed by a few days,” Salahuddin told UNB on Tuesday night.

Tarique Rahman, the elder son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, has lived in London since leaving Bangladesh during the state of emergency in 2008.

Although all legal complications against him were resolved following the fall of the Awami League government after the July uprising, he has yet to return.

Several senior BNP leaders have hinted in recent months that Tarique’s return is imminent, but none have confirmed a specific date.

In an interview with BBC Bangla on October 6, Tarique said his homecoming was “very soon, Inshallah.”

Asked whether he would return before the next election, he said: “As a political worker, it’s natural that I should be with the people during an election. Where there is a people’s election – one expected by the nation – how can I stay away? I will do my best to be with the people during that time, Inshallah.”

Though long at the helm of the party’s strategy, Tarique has never contested a parliamentary election.

This time, however, he is set to run in the 13th national parliamentary polls from Bogura-6 (Sadar) — his mother’s long-held seat, which she never lost.

Preparations are reportedly underway to welcome him back. Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan residence, built on a 32-katha plot gifted to her by the government in 1981, has been prepared for his stay with his family.

Party sources said he will be given a grand reception from the airport to Gulshan, marking the occasion as a historic homecoming.

Tarique Rahman was arrested on March 7, 2007, during the 1/11 caretaker government, granted bail on September 3, 2008, and left for London with his family on September 11 for medical treatment.

He has since lived there with his wife Zubaida Rahman and daughter Zaima Rahman.