Abu Jakir:
For more than a decade, Tarique Rahman has been one of Bangladesh’s most polarising political figures — admired by supporters as a visionary organiser capable of reshaping a battered democracy, and vilified by opponents as a symbol of a political order they sought to erase. But in the months following the 2024 uprising and the dramatic fall of Sheikh Hasina’s long authoritarian rule, Rahman’s name has re-entered Bangladesh’s political imagination with renewed force.
Now 60, the exiled Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader is once again at the center of a national conversation: What role will he play in the country’s next political era? And can a figure forced into exile since 2008 become the principal architect of a post-authoritarian Bangladesh?
A Political Legacy Rooted in Heritage and Reinvention
Rahman inherits a legacy intertwined with the history of Bangladesh itself. His father, President Ziaur Rahman, declared independence in 1971 and built the foundations of multiparty politics. His mother, Khaleda Zia, served twice as prime minister and remains a defining figure of the pro-democracy movement.
For many BNP supporters, Tarique Rahman represents the third chapter of that lineage — the generation tasked with rebuilding institutions weakened by 17 years of repression.
Yet Rahman’s political identity was not forged in dynastic comfort. Contrary to popular myth, he began his political work long before the 2000s, joining the Bogura district BNP as a grassroots member in 1988. Through the tumultuous 1990s, he quietly worked on election strategy and organisation, declining consecutive invitations to contest parliamentary seats. Even after the BNP returned to power in 2001, he resisted formal office until he was appointed senior joint secretary general in 2002.
It was during this period that Rahman launched what newspapers then described as an “unprecedented experiment in grassroots mobilisation”: a wave of Union Representative Conferences across the country, echoing Ziaur Rahman’s village-centric politics. Political analysts say these events disrupted the traditional Dhaka-centric political culture and unsettled the Awami League, which viewed Rahman as the BNP’s rising strategist.
The 1/11 Years and Exile
Rahman’s arrest during the 2007 military-backed caretaker regime — and the allegations of torture he later described in court — became a defining episode in his political life. When he left for London in September 2008 for medical treatment, it marked the beginning of a long exile coinciding with Sheikh Hasina’s consolidation of power.
Throughout the Awami League’s 15-year rule, Rahman faced layers of restrictions: a ban on broadcasting his speeches, dozens of cases he and his party describe as “politically motivated,” and a state narrative painting him as an emblem of the past. Even so, BNP leaders privately acknowledged that Rahman remained the party’s organisational anchor — a leader who never allowed the party to fracture despite arrests, enforced disappearances, and heavy political pressure.
The 31-Point Blueprint: A Vision from Exile
In July 2023, Rahman unveiled what many diplomats and civil society groups later called one of the most comprehensive reform documents produced by an opposition leader in Bangladesh’s recent history: a 31-point framework for state restructuring.
The document drew on Ziaur Rahman’s 19 points, Khaleda Zia’s Vision 2030, and consultations with reform-minded political parties. It proposed judicial independence, decentralised governance, a bicameral parliament, electoral reform, and a modernised social welfare structure — ideas several reform commissions in today’s interim government have echoed, intentionally or not.
International analysts, including former European Parliament members and academics from the UK, have long taken interest in Rahman’s political philosophy. In a seminar at Cambridge’s University Arms, scholars described his emphasis on empowerment, participatory politics, and rural development as “the DNA of his political thought.”
Political Strength Through Distance
Rahman’s effectiveness as a leader in exile has been both criticised and admired.
Detractors argue that physical distance prevents him from confronting the realities of Bangladeshi politics. Supporters counter that his ability to maintain unity in the BNP — despite state repression and targeted political engineering — is proof of organisational mastery.
During major national movements, including the road safety protests and the quota reform agitation, Rahman remained an invisible but central figure, coordinating legal assistance, mobilising workers, and shaping political messaging. BNP insiders often credit him with preventing the party from splintering, even as a powerful state apparatus tried to break it apart.
The Post-Hasina Landscape: A New Opening
The dramatic fall of the Awami League in August 2024, driven by student-led uprisings and mass defections from state institutions, has reset Bangladesh’s political field. With many former ruling party leaders in exile or facing charges, the BNP has emerged as a principal actor in the transitional discourse.
In this shifting landscape, the public gaze has turned sharply toward Rahman. His supporters see him as the only leader with both organisational experience and a long-term reform agenda. His critics concede that, for the first time in years, Rahman’s return to Bangladesh is not implausible.
A Nation in Anticipation
Today, Rahman stands at a political crossroads. He has never served as prime minister, never held a cabinet post, and has not stepped on Bangladeshi soil for 17 years. Yet he is mentioned by young activists, rural workers, diaspora communities, and BNP loyalists as a central figure in the country’s future political reforms.
Whether this translates into direct political leadership or a guiding role in a transitional democratic framework remains uncertain. But the political narrative has shifted. The exile who once symbolised repression has become, for many Bangladeshis, a symbol of political possibility.
As Bangladesh navigates a fragile democratic reopening, one question continues to shape political conversations from Dhaka to London:
Is Tarique Rahman poised to become the architect of the next Bangladesh — or will his influence remain that of a strategist operating from afar?
For now, the nation waits.
