Different political camps are viewing BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman’s much anticipated return in a positive light. They hope Tarique will bring about a new chapter in the country by uniting anti-fascist parties, in an effort to free politics from muscle power.
Tarique is returning home at a time when the 13th parliamentary election is just around the corner. His mother, BNP Chairperson and three-time former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is seriously ill.
To further complicate matters, Bangladesh is now fraught with one unrest after another.
Inqilab Mancha spokesperson and a leader of the July movement, Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, recently fell victim to a brutal killing. Using his death as an excuse, agitators committed vandalism and arson on several institutions, including dailies Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, and Chhayanaut.
Under such circumstances, the arrival of Tarique Rahman – who has been in exile for nearly 18 years – has garnered optimism and positive expectations in different political parties.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s Assistant Secretary General and head of the party’s media department, Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair, told TIMES of Bangladesh, “A politician works for the people. Therefore, it is only natural for Tarique Rahman to return home.
“However, considering current circumstances, the country’s people have many demands of him. As the leader of a major party, the biggest expectation from Tarique is that he will form a unity to build the Bangladesh of tomorrow.”
Revolutionary Workers Party General Secretary and Ganatantra Mancha leader, Saiful Haque, told TIMES, “I believe Tarique Rahman is returning to the country as a new person. He is bringing wisdom, foresight, and charismatic leadership.
“In this turbulent political time, his arrival could become an important factor.”
He added, “If Tarique can maintain a positive trend, meaning he can earn everyone’s trust, then it will carry special significance for him. If he can work effectively, he can play a special role in the country’s politics for the next one or two decades.”
Due to the BNP acting chairman being away from the country for a long time and the party chairperson being ill, BNP leaders and activists have, to a large extent, operated free from the high command’s direct influence and have become embroiled in controversial activities.
Particularly since the Awami regime’s fall last August, the party’s leaders and activists have been quite reckless.
National Citizen Party (NCP) Joint Chief Coordinator Arifur Rahman Tuhin told TIMES, “The politics of muscle power continues in the country to this day. This is essentially what our July uprising was organised against.
“I hope Tarique Rahman will prioritise this aspiration of the youth and try to remove muscle power from that politics. Specifically, he should rein in his own party’s leaders and activists.”
Political figures have special expectations from Tarique Rahman, hoping he would utilise his newfound opportunity to build a new democratic Bangladesh 54 years after independence.
