RETURN OF PRODIGAL SON IN BANGLADESH CHANGES PROSPECTS

The return of Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman after 17 years in exile points to BNP's compact with the Yunus regime. Two deaths reveal the alignment of foreign powers

- PINAK RANJAN CHAKRAVARTY

REGIME-change operations often stray from the script, particularly when orchestrated violence becomes a policy tool.

Bangladesh is fast becoming a classic case. Both the US and Pakistan were aggrieved at Sheikh Hasina's cold-shouldering, independent foreign policy stance and her friendship with India. The current bonhomie between these two countries is, inter alia, an expression of the US's gratitude to Pakistan.

One of the most crucial steps of the regime-change operation in Bangladesh was to install Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the head of an unelected interim government. In its 17 months in power, his dysfunctional regime has presided over mob violence, economic decline and growing extortion from business houses.

There has been a flight of capital, a steep fall in investment, and a fall in GDP growth from a recent peak of 7.5 percent to below 3 percent.

Undeniably, Hasina's own policy miscalculations contributed to her ouster. Apart from corruption, cronyism and manipulating elections, one crucial error was her coddling of selected hardline Islamic groups and a crackdown on others. Madrasas mushroomed, creating a new generation of indoctrinated youngsters. Many of them are fronting violent mobs today.

In this mix, the arrival of Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the eldest son of former PM Khaleda Zia, after 17 years in exile in the UK changes the political matrix before the February 2026 election.