Tarique Rahman’s Human Rights Day Message: A masterclass in duplicity

Tarique Rahman’s message on the occasion of Human Rights Day on December 10 is a carefully choreographed performance of magnanimity. He speaks of reconciliation instead of revenge, of a Bangladesh built on “unity, dignity, and democratic freedoms,” and positions the BNP as the ultimate victim-turned-healer after 16 years of Awami League “authoritarianism.”

His statement is polished, emotionally resonant, and designed for international consumption.

Many dub Tarique’s statements as rhetoric since he also promises to eradicate corruption, establish the rule of law, ensure human rights, and restore democracy, whereas he has appeared as a demon destroying all these key pillars of a peaceful state.

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Yet the speech is an exercise in staggering hypocrisy when placed against the BNP’s actual conduct in the years—and especially the months—leading up to and following the August 5, 2024, ouster of the Awami League government.

A Systematic, Foreign-Assisted Campaign

Immediately after the 2020–2021 Covid-19 lockdowns ended, the BNP—under Tarique Rahman’s direct guidance from London—launched a multi-pronged, years-long operation to destroy the Awami League by any means necessary. This was not spontaneous street anger; it was a calculated political war with significant foreign backing, particularly from sections of the US government that had grown hostile to Sheikh Hasina after she refused to allow American military facilities on Bangladeshi soil and deepened ties with China and Russia.

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Key components of this campaign included:

– Forging a Grand Anti-Awami League Alliance

  With active facilitation from US embassy officials and think tanks in Washington, BNP stitched together an unprecedented coalition ranging from ultra-left student groups to far-right Islamists. Regular “all-party liaison committee” meetings were held in Dhaka, often with US envoy Peter Haas as the initiator and other Western diplomats present as “observers.”

– Weaponising the Streets and Media

  From 2022 onward, BNP and its allies organised near-weekly rallies, processions, and “siege” programs. Speakers—including senior BNP leaders—routinely issued open threats: “We will do everything to oust Sheikh Hasina,” “Sheikh Hasina will be tried in the ICT-BD,” “Police officers following government orders will not be spared,” and “Awami League leaders will be tried in people’s courts.” These speeches were live-streamed, amplified by pro-BNP private television channels (many of which received funding traced to BNP-aligned businessmen abroad), and turned into viral social-media clips.

– Patronage of Radical Islamist Networks

  Tarique and the BNP top brass deliberately rehabilitated and empowered Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam, the very forces they now pretend to keep at arm’s length. Joint platforms were shared at rallies; Hefazat’s violent 2021 rampage in Brahmanbaria and Modhupur was tacitly defended; and Jamaat’s student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, was allowed to work alongside BNP’s Chhatra Dal to carry out a rampage during the anti-government movement in 2024. Money, logistics, and political protection flowed freely.

– The Infamous ‘Target Lists’ and US Visa-Ban Lobbying

  BNP’s intelligence cell, in coordination with certain US-based lobbying firms, prepared and continuously updated several lists: 

  – A list of ~500 serving police officers accused of “repression” during the quota protests. 

  – Separate lists containing thousands of Awami League central and district-level leaders. 

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  – Lists of civil servants, judges, university teachers, and journalists perceived as pro-government. 

  These lists were systematically fed to the US State Department and Congress members, resulting in waves of visa sanctions—first on RAB (2021), then on former army chief General (Retd.) Aziz Ahmed and his family, and finally on hundreds of police and civilian officials under the new visa policy of May 2023. The explicit goal, repeatedly voiced in closed-door BNP meetings, was to demoralise and paralyse the state machinery so that it would collapse the moment street pressure peaked.

From Preparation to Post-Ouster Carnage

When the student-led uprising finally erupted in July–August 2024, the BNP did not merely “join” it—it hijacked it. Pre-positioned BNP–Jamaat cadres turned peaceful demonstrations into coordinated attacks on police stations, government offices, and minority temples. The moment Hasina fled on August 5, the mask came off entirely:

– Hundreds of Awami League leaders and activists were hunted down and killed—often with chilling precision that matched the circulated lists. 

– Over 5,00,000 leaders, activists, and supporters were arrested under around 2,000 murder cases, over half of which are false; people were robbed in the name of arrest trading, and their bail was denied if bribes were not paid.

– Properties were looted, houses burnt, and illegally occupied by BNP local leaders overnight. 

– Extortion rackets were established in broad daylight; businesses were forced to pay “donations” to local BNP committees. 

– Nepotism reached grotesque levels: within weeks, BNP loyalists were appointed to universities, banks, NGOs, and even judicial commissions in blatant violation of merit.

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This is the same party whose acting chairman now lectures the nation about “resolution over retribution” and warns that “no Bangladeshi should ever again fear the institutions created to protect their rights.”

Reconciliation as Camouflage for Consolidation

Tarique Rahman’s Human Rights Day message is not an olive branch; it is a victory speech disguised as atonement. By speaking of reconciliation while his party continues to settle scores, occupy loot, and entrench itself through terror and nepotism, he reveals the core truth: for the BNP under Tarique, “reconciliation” simply means the permanent political elimination of the Awami League and the establishment of a new hegemony—one that will rely on the very army, police, judiciary, and Islamist networks it spent years cultivating and shielding.

A genuine call for reconciliation would begin with disbanding the death squads, returning looted properties, withdrawing the target lists, and holding the BNP’s own perpetrators accountable. Until then, Tarique’s eloquent words remain what they have always been: a polished mask over the same old politics of vengeance, jihadist patronage, and foreign-orchestrated regime change that the BNP has perfected since its inception.