For the first time in 17 years, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Tarique Rahman, has publicly admitted what many have long suspected: he desperately wants to return to Bangladesh to be at his critically ill mother\u2019s bedside, but he cannot make that decision alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an emotional Facebook post on Saturday morning, the London<\/a>-based elder son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia wrote: \u201cIn this moment of crisis, my longing to feel my mother\u2019s affectionate touch is as intense as any child\u2019s. Yet, I cannot unilaterally decide this matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hours later, Press Secretary to Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Shafiqul Alam<\/a>, responded directly: the interim government has \u201cno restrictions or objections whatsoever\u201d to Tarique Rahman\u2019s return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On paper, the door is open. In reality, it remains firmly shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khaleda Zia, 80, has been in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of Evercare Hospital since November 23 with a serious lung infection and multiple co-morbidities. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir described her condition on Saturday evening as \u201ccritical.\u201d A medical board that includes specialists from Johns Hopkins (USA) and London Clinic has advised that she is currently too unstable to be moved abroad for advanced treatment, though preparations\u2014visas, air ambulance contracts\u2014are already far advanced in case her condition stabilises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arafat doubts Tarique\u2019s expertise in governance, questions income source<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2001-06: How dangerous was Tarique Rahman?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Against this backdrop, Tarique Rahman\u2019s carefully worded statement and the government\u2019s swift clarification have crystallised the central paradox of Bangladesh\u2019s post-August 2024 political landscape: the legal and security obstacles that once prevented his return have either fallen away or been officially disowned, yet he still cannot come home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what exactly is stopping him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outstanding Criminal Cases and the Question of Arrest<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the Yunus interim government has made no move to withdraw the dozens of cases filed against Tarique Rahman during the Awami League era\u2014cases that include the 2004 21 August grenade attack, corruption, and money laundering\u2014officials insist he would not be arrested upon arrival. The press secretary\u2019s statement is the clearest public assurance yet. However, neither the caretaker administration nor the judiciary has formally quashed the convictions (including a 10-year sentence in one corruption case) or issued any safe-passage guarantee that would satisfy British authorities or, more importantly, Tarique Rahman\u2019s own legal team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cPolitical Realities\u201d He Dare Not Name<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tarique\u2019s phrase \u201cpolitical realities\u201d (\u09b0\u09be\u099c\u09a8\u09c8\u09a4\u09bf\u0995 \u09ac\u09be\u09b8\u09cd\u09a4\u09ac\u09a4\u09be) is deliberately opaque, but Bangladeshi political circles interpret it the same way: elements within the security establishment, the student-military-civil society-jihadist coalition that forced Sheikh Hasina\u2019s ouster, and even sections of the BNP\u2019s own rank-and-file remain deeply hostile to his return. Memories of the 2001\u20132006 BNP-Jamaat government, the 1\/11 military-backed caretaker intervention, and the perception that Tarique was the de facto power behind a notoriously corrupt and violent administration have not faded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Tarique Rahman blaming AL for brother Koko\u2019s death baseless, shameful\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n BNP\u2019s mob attacks reach peak after Yunus-Tarique meeting<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hardline anti-Hasina forces who view the BNP as yesterday\u2019s authoritarian party fear that Tarique\u2019s physical presence would instantly re-energise the old power structure and derail the reform agenda. Senior BNP leaders privately acknowledge that any attempt to bring him back without a broader political settlement could fracture the fragile post-Hasina consensus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Personal Security Calculations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Living in London since 2008 under what he claims is de facto political asylum, Tarique Rahman has survived at least two known assassination attempts and carries the scars of the 2004 grenade attack that killed his mother\u2019s political secretary and dozens of others. Returning to a Bangladesh where the army still wields enormous influence and where student activists who spearheaded the July\u2013August uprising remain heavily armed and highly mobilised is, for his inner circle, an unacceptable risk without iron-clad guarantees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mother-Son Dilemma as Political Theatre<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Both the BNP and the interim government are acutely aware that Khaleda Zia\u2019s illness is the one issue that can humanise Tarique in the eyes of ordinary Bangladeshis. The party has deliberately amplified the emotional angle\u2014nationwide prayer sessions, appeals not to crowd the hospital\u2014while simultaneously using her condition to pressure the government into concessions. Tarique\u2019s Facebook post walks the same tightrope: a son\u2019s anguish that also reminds the nation he is being kept away from a dying mother by forces beyond his control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet the government\u2019s response\u2014warm words about Khaleda Zia\u2019s treatment and zero restrictions on her son\u2019s travel\u2014effectively calls the BNP\u2019s bluff. Should Tarique fail to board a flight in the upcoming days, the narrative of his “prevention” will crumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n