From tackling Islamists to restoring India ties — ‘Dark Prince’ Tarique Rahman has difficult job ahead as Bangladesh PM

Dhaka: Tarique Rahman, the chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) who is set to become the next Prime Minister of Bangladesh, returned to the country in December last year after 17 years of self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom amid a deepening political crisis.

The 60-year-old is the eldest son of former Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman and three-time Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

With the Awami League unable to participate in elections following the suspension of its registration, Tarique Rahman swiftly emerged as the prime ministerial frontrunner after his mother’s demise.

Often referred to as “dark prince”, Tarique is said to have wielded significant power from 2001 to 2006 during the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami coalition, while Khaleda Zia served as Prime Minister.

He was, however, accused by the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government of corruption and running a parallel power centre during the Khaleda regime.

Last month, Awami League said that the country is witnessing a disturbing political trend, with Tarique being celebrated, rehabilitated, and projected as a future leader, raising concerns that the nation’s history has been erased and its collective memory has failed.

“The crimes, corruption, and state capture of the 2001–2006 period are being deliberately forgotten, softened, or conveniently ignored. This amnesia is dangerous. Because what Tarique Rahman did during that time was not a footnote in history; it was one of the darkest chapters of institutional collapse in Bangladesh,” the Awami League had stated.

Tarique was arrested in 2007 during the political upheaval linked to the 1/11 period. After being released from prison in 2008, he travelled to the United Kingdom along with his family for medical treatment and remained there till his return to Dhaka on December 25.

Following the 2024 July uprising that led to the fall of the democratically elected Awami League government on August 5, 2024, several court verdicts that had sentenced Tarique in different cases were overturned.

Experts reckon that Rahman, who is more mature politically now, may work towards the restoration of ties with India in the interest of his own country, while being cautious of excessive Pakistani interference, taking lessons from development in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Balochistan.

Ties remained strained with India over border security issues and allegations of Bangladesh harbouring anti-India terrorist groups when the BNP was in power between 2001 and 2006. India had also raised concerns in 2004 following the discovery of 10 truckloads of weapons at Chattogram’s CUFL jetty.

With Tarique now set to lead Bangladesh – the country last saw a male PM almost 35 years ago – experts warn that the nation faces a massive challenge of overcoming the unrest and rising Islamist extremism that marked the 18-month tenure of the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

IANS