Return of the Native

When Tarique Rahman, the 60-year-old son of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), ended his 17-year exile and stepped back onto Bangladeshi soil 25 December, new possibilities seemed to open up for the country which has been in great turmoil for the past few months since the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s very long and authoritarian rule.

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There is no gainsaying the fact that he is a product of polarization politics that has made the country lurch from one extreme to another. Yet, his statements before and after setting foot on the country’s soil assume significance both for Bangladesh and India. The current anti-India rhetoric whipped up by the fundamentalist forces ruling the roost at the moment, with the interim government conniving with it, may be toned down and there may also be a halt to the mad rush towards chaos and violence prevailing in the country.

Rahman’s return comes after the Bangladesh Election Commission announced polls will be held in February 2026. Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser of the interim government, has announced that he will step down after the polls. The two men had met in London earlier this year. Zia, Bangladesh’s first woman Prime Minister, is an arch-rival of Sheikh Hasina. The 80-year-old has been in poor health of late and was even put on ventilator support.