BNP chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returns to Bangladesh

Dhaka: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia returned to Dhaka on Tuesday after four months of medical treatment in London. She was accompanied by her two daughters-in-law — the acting Chairman of the party, Tarique Rahman’s wife Zubaida Rahman, and the late Arafat Rahman Koko’s wife Syeda Sharmila Rahman.

The air ambulance, provided by Qatar’s Emir, reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Tuesday morning.

As Khaleda Zia travelled to her Gulshan residence from the airport, hundreds of party workers lined the streets to welcome her return, chanting slogans such as “Welcome Khaleda Zia” , “Khaleda Zia, fear not, we haven’t left the streets” and “Tarique Rahman, Khaleda Zia”.

Members of the armed forces, along with other law enforcement agencies, were deployed along the route and stringent security measures were also observed around Khaleda’s residence.

Rahman’s wife, Zubaida Rahman, has returned to Bangladesh after spending 17 years in exile in London. Local media reported that she intends to stay at her father’s residence in Dhanmondi.

Earlier, BNP had sent a letter to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) asking to “ensure security” of Zubaida Rahman, upon her arrival in Bangladesh, stating that there is a security threat to her life as a member of the Zia family and wife of Tarique Rahman.

Reports suggest that the return of the BNP chief could add pressure on the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government to hold general elections in the country.

Asserting that long-term reforms should be carried out under an elected government, the BNP wants to have elections this year and has threatened to hold street protests if they are delayed further,

Speaking to the reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that Khaleda Zia’s return to the country will facilitate the transition to democracy.

“It is a very happy day for the nation. Her presence is significant at the time of democratic transition,” the BNP Secretary General said.

Meanwhile, discussions in Bangladesh are swirling around the potential return of Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman, who is “actively considering” to lead the outfit on home soil.

Rahman, who has been leading the BNP from London, is also at the crossroads. Having recently been acquitted in major cases, including the August 2004 grenade attack, he faces minimal legal hurdles to return.

Analysts reckon that he may possibly be testing waters in the political turbulence of the Bangladeshi politics under the present Yunus administration, which is under pressure to deliver on its promised reforms and to hold elections.

Political opponents believe that Tarique Rahman is risking his wife’s well-being and using her as “a human shield” to check whether it will be safe for him to return to the political culture of violence in Bangladesh’s party system.

It may be mentioned that Khaleda Zia was sentenced to prison for seven years and fined Tk 1 million in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case on October 29, 2018. She was imprisoned at the Central Jail in Old Dhaka.

After the Sheikh Hasina government was toppled by the so-called student-led mass movement on August 5, Khaleda was released by President of Bangladesh Mohammed Shahabuddin through an executive order. The court later also quashed her jail sentences.

IANS