After 17 years in exile, Acting Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Tarique Rahman is poised to return home on Thursday morning, a moment the party describes as both politically significant and emotionally charged.
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed disclosed a detailed timeline at a press conference held at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office on Wednesday.
According to the plan, Tarique Rahman will depart London’s Heathrow Airport on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, accompanied by his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman and daughter Zaima Rahman and their beloved pet cat Jebu.
Party sources said senior journalist Saleh Shibly and three personal aides will also travel with him.
Arrival & Programmes
“Our leader will leave London on a regular Bangladesh Airlines flight from Heathrow Airport around midnight (Bangladesh time). After a transit stop in Sylhet, he will arrive in Dhaka at 11:50am tomorrow (Thursday) morning, Insha’Allah,” said Salahuddin.
He said BNP Standing Committee members will receive the party’s Acting Chairman at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
From the airport, the BNP leader said, Tarique will proceed directly to join a reception programme as their party has arranged on the 36 July Expressway (300 Feet Road). “It will be a short programme. He (Tarique) will speak there thanking the people of the country, expressing his gratitude, and offering gratefulness to the Almighty Allah,” he said.
To minimise public inconvenience and traffic congestion in Dhaka, Salahuddin said Tarique alone will speak at the reception.
After the programme, he said the BNP Acting Chairman will visit his mother and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is currently undergoing treatment in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of Evercare Hospital, Bashundhara.
After spending some time beside Khaleda, Tarique will proceed to House No-196 on Gulshan Avenue, where he will stay.
On Friday, following the Jumma prayers, Tarique Rahman will visit the grave of his father and BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman.
He is also later scheduled to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War at the National Memorial in Savar.
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On Saturday, Tarique Rahman will be formally registered as a voter. After completing the process, he will visit the grave of Osman Hadi near the Dhaka University Central Mosque.
He will later go to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), popularly known as Pangu Hospital, to meet those injured in the July 2024 uprising.
Advance Apology
Salahuddin, on behalf of BNP, sincerely apologised in advance for any inconvenience or suffering caused by the unavoidable and minimal programmes taken by the party to organise the historic homecoming of its beloved leader.
“You know that Mr Tarique Rahman does not support any programme that may cause public inconvenience. He has already asked expatriate leaders, activists, and supporters not to gather at London’s Heathrow Airport on the day of his departure from there” he said.
In Bangladesh too, the BNP leader said that although they sincerely tried to follow his instructions to avoid causing public suffering, it may not have been possible to fully comply. “So, we express our advance apology and regret for any public inconvenience.”
Salahuddin said Tarique has chosen a government holiday for his return to avoid public inconvenience.
He said the programme at the 300 Feet Road is neither a public rally nor a reception. “It is only meant for him to express sincere gratitude to the people of the country and to request prayers for the well-being of the party chairperson and everyone in the country. There will be no second speaker at the event besides him.”
The BNP leader said no matter how much they try to keep the event small, they do not have the ability to control the large flow of leaders, activists and supporters who has been waiting for 17 years and are coming to the capital from all parts of the country. “Still, we have instructed our supporters to mostly use the Kanchan Bridge to reach the venue.”
He also outlined arrangements in the capital, including reception points at different locations, designated parking areas for vehicles, medical camps and field hospitals.
Security Arrangements
BNP Chairperson’s Chief Security Officer retired Brigadier General AKM Saiful Islam said, “We will use our party’s full security system. A small part of it is the Chairperson Security Force (CSF). Beyond that, our party leaders and activists, and above all, the people of Bangladesh, are the main foundation of our security.”
He said the government is providing them with maximum cooperation and has instructed its various forces and agencies to extend all kinds of support. “We have developed close coordination with them. By integrating government organisations with our party’s own strength, we hope to build the strongest possible security arrangement based on the known security needs.”
No Gathering at Sylhet Airport
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said their beloved leader, Tarique Rahman, will return to the country on a Bangladesh Airlines flight, which will first land at Sylhet Airport.
He instructed leaders and activists of Sylhet city and district not to gather at the airport.
“No leaders or activists from Sylhet city or district should gather at the airport. No one should go there. Our leader will continue on the same flight to Dhaka. After arriving in Dhaka, he will speak to the people of the country at the programme we have arranged there,” Rizvi said.
Tarique Rahman was arrested during the caretaker government in 2007 and spent around 18 months in prison.
After his release in 2008, he left for the United Kingdom for advanced medical treatment. Although he has been leading the party from abroad, his return now comes as he prepares to take a more direct role in party affairs after a long 17-year absence.
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