Tarique Rahman returns home after 17 years

BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman arrived in Bangladesh on Thursday after 17 years abroad, travelling on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from London that made a stopover in the northeastern city of Sylhet before continuing to the capital.

The flight, BG-202 (also listed as BBC202), reached Sylhet’s Osmani International Airport at about 09:55 before later landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka at around 11:42am.

Ahead of the stopover, Rahman posted a photo on his verified Facebook account and wrote that he was “Back in Bangladesh’s skies after a long 6,314 days!”

He was accompanied by his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, and their daughter, Zaima Rahman.

The BNP said it had made extensive preparations in Dhaka for his arrival. After landing, Rahman is expected to visit his mother—former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia—at Evercare Hospital in the capital, stopping en route to attend a short reception beside the July 36 Expressway near Purbachal, a major roadway also known locally as the “300 Feet” road.

Rahman left for the United Kingdom with his family after being released from prison in 2008 during the period of the “one-eleven” government and has lived there since. His wife has returned to Bangladesh several times in the intervening years, but this is his first homecoming in 17 years.