Foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Tuesday said that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chair Tarique Rahman was yet to seek any travel pass to come back home from the United Kingdom.
On the other hand, home adviser retired Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that the government was ready to provide special security for Tarique on his return if
necessary.
‘We don’t have any specific information about his [Tarique Rahman’s] return. He is yet to seek a travel pass so far I know. A travel pass will be issued immediately if he seeks it,’ Touhid Hossain told reporters while emerging from his Segun Bagicha office at about 2:00pm.
Asked if Tarique has any valid passport with him, the adviser said that he could not confirm it.
Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury on the day said that the return of Tarique Rahman was entirely a ‘personal and family matter’.
Talking to reporters after an event titled ‘Future Bangladesh Challenges 2025’ at a city hotel, the BNP leader said that the ongoing discussion surrounding Tarique Rahman’s possible return to Bangladesh would have no negative impact on the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad elections.
‘There is no security risk for anyone as the government is committed to keep everyone protected’, the home adviser said while talking to reporters after a meeting of the core committee on law and order at the secretariat.
Responding to a question about security risks of Tarique Rahman upon his return to Bangladesh, he said, ‘We are ready for everyone. The home ministry is prepared for all, and for those who need special security, whatever special arrangements are required, we are ready to provide them.’
On Sunday, Touhid Hossain said that the government could provide a one-time travel pass for Tarique Rahman in a day if he wished to return home from the UK where he had been staying since 2008.
Addressing a discussion at the National Press Club, the foreign adviser said that there was no restriction from the government side on Tarique’s return.
The question of Tarique’s return came again as the health condition of her mother remained highly critical under treatment.
Meanwhile, Tarique in a Facebook post on Saturday said that like any son, he had a deep longing to feel his mother’s affectionate touch in such a difficult time, but the decision to return to Bangladesh was not entirely his to make, nor was it fully in his control.
Law adviser Asif Nazrul on Monday said that the government would extend all cooperation if Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chair Tarique Rahman wanted to return home from the United Kingdom.
‘I am not aware of any legal barrier to his [Tarique Rahman’s] return to the country. The government will extend the highest cooperation if there is any such obstacle,’ he told reporters while emerging from his secretariat office.
Tarique was arrested during an anti-corruption crackdown in March 2007 and released on bail in September 2008.
Following his release, Tarique left Bangladesh for London on September 11, 2008 for medical treatment and has remained in the UK for the past 17 years.
Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of Khaleda Zia, had been sentenced in at least five cases to different jail terms, including life imprisonment, and had faced 15 other cases, mostly filed during the 2007–2008 military-backed caretaker government.
The High Court acquitted Tarique, clearing him of all cases lodged against him in 2007–08 and also under the Awami League regime, following the fall of the Awami League government amid the July uprising on August 5, 2024.
