Zubaida Rahman leaves Dhaka for London after month-long stay

NN Online:
Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, left Dhaka on Thursday morning after spending a month in Bangladesh—her first visit in 17 years.

She boarded a Qatar Airways flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:55am, BNP spokesman Atiqur Rahman Rumon confirmed. “She has already departed for London,” he said.

Several senior BNP leaders, including Brig Gen (retd) AKM Shamsul Islam Shams, Nurul Islam Azad, and Rumon, were present at the airport to see her off.

Before leaving, Zubaida visited the party chief Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan residence, Feroza, and sought blessings. “After she boarded the flight, Khaleda Zia called to check on her. They had a brief conversation,” Rumon added.

On Wednesday, she also met her mother, Iqbal Mand Banu, at the family’s Dhanmondi home.

Zubaida came to Dhaka on May 6, accompanying her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who returned home after receiving advanced medical care in London for four months. She was joined by Syeda Sharmila Rahman, the widow of Khaleda’s younger son, Arafat Rahman Coco.

Zubaida and her husband, Tarique Rahman, have been living in London since the military-backed caretaker government period. Tarique, then imprisoned and allegedly tortured, went to the UK for medical treatment in 2008. Zubaida and their daughter Zaima followed.

Later, both Tarique and Zubaida were named in multiple corruption cases, which BNP has repeatedly called politically motivated. Their legal entanglements have prevented their return to Bangladesh during the Awami League’s tenure.

Zubaida’s brief return marked a rare and symbolic moment for the BNP leadership and loyalists, many of whom saw her visit as politically significant amid ongoing party challenges.