Tarique Rahman Returns to Dhaka After 17 Years in Exile

Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and a leading contender for prime minister, returned to Dhaka on Thursday after nearly 17 years in exile in London. His arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport marked a pivotal moment in the country's turbulent political transition, drawing massive crowds of supporters amid heightened security ahead of February's general elections.

Rahman, 60, the eldest son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, had left Bangladesh in 2008 following his release from prison during a period of political unrest. He cited politically motivated criminal cases, including charges of money laundering and involvement in a 2004 grenade attack on then-opposition leader Sheikh Hasina, as reasons for his departure. Those convictions, handed down in absentia, were overturned last year after Hasina's ouster in a student-led uprising in August 2024, which ended her 15-year rule and cleared legal obstacles to Rahman's return. Party officials described the homecoming as both a personal necessity, given Zia's ongoing serious illness and hospitalization, and a strategic move to bolster the BNP's campaign.