Tarique Rahman\u2019s 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 \u201cunity, dignity, and democratic freedoms,\u201d and positions the BNP as the ultimate victim-turned-healer after 16 years of Awami League \u201cauthoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His statement <\/a>is polished, emotionally resonant, and designed for international consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many dub Tarique\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Dark Prince and his \u2018Hawa Bhaban\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part-1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part-2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part-3<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet the speech is an exercise in staggering hypocrisy when placed against the BNP\u2019s actual conduct in the years\u2014and especially the months\u2014leading up to and following the August 5, 2024, ouster of the Awami League government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Systematic, Foreign-Assisted Campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Immediately after the 2020\u20132021 Covid-19 lockdowns ended, the BNP\u2014under Tarique Rahman\u2019s direct guidance from London\u2014launched 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khaleda Zia gets VVIP status and SSF protection as Tarique notices invisible threat<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Why Tarique Rahman still cannot come home after 17 years<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Arafat doubts Tarique\u2019s expertise in governance, questions income source<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Key components of this campaign included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Forging a Grand Anti-Awami League Alliance<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201call-party liaison committee\u201d meetings were held in Dhaka, often with US envoy Peter Haas as the initiator and other Western diplomats present as \u201cobservers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Weaponising the Streets and Media<\/p>\n\n\n\n From 2022 onward, BNP and its allies organised near-weekly rallies, processions, and \u201csiege\u201d programs. Speakers\u2014including senior BNP leaders\u2014routinely issued open threats: \u201cWe will do everything to oust Sheikh Hasina,\u201d \u201cSheikh Hasina will be tried in the ICT-BD,\u201d \u201cPolice officers following government orders will not be spared,\u201d and \u201cAwami League leaders will be tried in people\u2019s courts.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Patronage of Radical Islamist Networks<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s length. Joint platforms were shared at rallies; Hefazat\u2019s violent 2021 rampage in Brahmanbaria and Modhupur was tacitly defended; and Jamaat\u2019s student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, was allowed to work alongside BNP\u2019s Chhatra Dal to carry out a rampage during the anti-government movement in 2024. Money, logistics, and political protection flowed freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – The Infamous \u2018Target Lists\u2019 and US Visa-Ban Lobbying<\/p>\n\n\n\n BNP\u2019s intelligence cell, in coordination with certain US-based lobbying firms, prepared and continuously updated several lists: <\/p>\n\n\n\n – A list of ~500 serving police officers accused of \u201crepression\u201d during the quota protests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Separate lists containing thousands of Awami League central and district-level leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2001-06: How dangerous was Tarique Rahman?<\/a><\/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 – Lists of civil servants, judges, university teachers, and journalists perceived as pro-government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These lists were systematically fed to the US State Department and Congress members, resulting in waves of visa sanctions\u2014first 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Preparation to Post-Ouster Carnage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When the student-led uprising finally erupted in July\u2013August 2024, the BNP did not merely \u201cjoin\u201d it\u2014it hijacked it. Pre-positioned BNP\u2013Jamaat 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Hundreds of Awami League leaders and activists were hunted down and killed\u2014often with chilling precision that matched the circulated lists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Properties were looted, houses burnt, and illegally occupied by BNP local leaders overnight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Extortion rackets were established in broad daylight; businesses were forced to pay \u201cdonations\u201d to local BNP committees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Nepotism reached grotesque levels: within weeks, BNP loyalists were appointed to universities, banks, NGOs, and even judicial commissions in blatant violation of merit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite being cursed, Sheikh Hasina expresses concern for ailing Khaleda Zia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n