Will take part in the election, BNP acting chair tells BBC Bangla
BNP's acting chairman Tarique Rahman has confirmed that he will take part in the upcoming 13th parliamentary election.
He made the revelation in an interview with BBC Bangla -- his first in nearly two decades -- where he discussed elections, politics, and other issues.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. He said, "I will try my best, I will have the wish, I will have the interest that when the expected election, the election that people want, takes place, I will be there with the people, among the people."
"For some reasonable reasons maybe, my return has not happened yet. But I think the time has come. I will come back soon," he added.
The BNP leader, who has been living in London for nearly 18 years, said as a politician and a worker of a political party, he has always been closely connected with elections.
"So, when an expected election for the people takes place, how can I stay away from it?" he asked.
Tarique, 58, said his absence from Bangladesh was only physical. "Physically I may be in this country (UK), but in mind and heart, in every way, I have been in Bangladesh for the last 17 years," he said.
Asked why he had not spoken to the media for so long, Tarique replied, "Maybe it is not like that. Maybe the matter is a bit different. Actually, I have spoken. I have been living abroad for 17 years. But since I got the responsibility of the party, I have been speaking to my leaders, activists, and different groups of ordinary people in villages and towns."
"You surely know that during the time of the past fascist government, an order from the court stopped my right to speak. If I wanted to say something to the media, maybe the media wanted to publish it, but they could not," he said.
"I have spoken through social media and other ways. I have tried to reach people. So, it is not true that I did not speak to the media. I spoke, maybe you could not take my words then. Or you could not hear them. Even if you wanted to, you could not publish or broadcast them. But I spoke, I did not stay silent."
Tarique has said that the party's chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia may play a role in the upcoming national election if her health allows.
"I believe, or I want to believe, that as the first step in restoring democracy, in the expected, people's election that is going to take place, if her physical ability allows, she will surely play some role," Tarique told BBC.
Tarique described his mother Khaleda Zia as someone who had always contributed whenever democratic rights in Bangladesh were curtailed.
"This time too, everyone saw how during the time of dictatorship, the sword of repression fell on her. But she did not compromise. Such a person is ill today. How she became physically unwell is known to the people of the country -- she was taken to prison in false cases. We saw a healthy person go in, but an ill person came out. She was even denied proper medical treatment," Tarique said.
Asked whether Khaleda Zia could take part in the election, Tarique said, "I cannot say that right now. As I just mentioned, it partly depends on her physical ability."
Responding to a question about BNP's future leadership and family influence, Tarique said, "Politics is not about family. It is about support. Whoever can organise, unite the people, and lead the party forward will move ahead. If someone can't, they will not. Time and circumstances will prove this," he said.
He added that he himself had endured harassment, false cases, physical torture, imprisonment, and smear campaigns over the years. "I have gone through every stage of political persecution. That is why I say politics is not inherited. It is earned through support and struggle," Tarique said.
Asked about speculation on whether his wife or daughter might enter politics, Tarique said, "As I said, time and circumstances will decide that."
In January 2015, during the rule of the Awami League government, the High Court directed restrictions on publicising Tarique's statements. The following day, another HC bench ordered the government to immediately take steps to stop publishing his statements in print, electronic and social media as long as he remained a fugitive.
After the uprising on August 22 last year, the HC lifted the ban on publishing his statements in all types of media and online platforms.
Tarique, the second-in-command of the BNP, has virtually led the party during his long stay in London.
He went there with his family in September 2008 for medical treatment, after being granted bail during the military-backed caretaker government, popularly known as 1/11, which came to power on January 11, 2007. Tarique was arrested on March 7, 2007, and released on bail on September 3, 2008. He flew to London on September 11 that year with wife Zubaida Rahman and daughter Zaima Rahman.
During the last Awami League government, he was sentenced in five different cases in absentia, while around 100 cases were filed against him.
However, after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 last year, he was cleared of all charges through legal processes. Currently, there are no pending cases against him.
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