BNP's Tarique Rahman, the man behind 'India Out' campaign, to return to Bangladesh

BNP's acting chairman Tarique Rahman is set to return to Dhaka, Bangladesh Nationalist Party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has announced, a day after Sheikh Hasina resigned as Prime Minister and left the troubled country. Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is believed to be the man behind the 'India Out' campaign that began in the country following Hasina's return as Prime Minister.

"You all know that our leader, Tarique Rahman, has been unjustly exiled abroad due to false cases. He has fully supported this movement, and we have taken steps to bring him back to the country immediately. Insha'Allah, we will be successful," Alamgir said. 

The BNP leader said that it had been decided that Begum Khaleda Zia would also be released immediately. "Those who were imprisoned for political reasons will also be released. Now, in the current situation, all political parties, students, and the public will work together to control it."

The BNP, which has had a rocky relationship with New Delhi in the past, accuses India of interference in Bangladesh. It also believes that Hasina has been winning elections with the support from New Delhi. The BNP, the main opposition party in Bangladesh, had boycotted the general elections in January. 

After Hasina returned to power, the BNP began a campaign, 'India Out'. The campaign was somewhat similar to what Mohamed Muizzu started in the Maldives.

The movement, which was aimed at boycotting Indian goods, was also targeted at gaining ground against Hasina and appeasing hardliners like Jamaat-E-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam. Pro-Pakistan Jamaat-E-Islami is a radical group, which wants Sharia law in Bangladesh. Jamaat was barred by the Supreme Court from contesting the general elections. However, with Hasina gone, BNP and Jamaat are waiting to take over the control of Dhaka.    

In October 2018, Tarique Rahman was sentenced to life by a Bangladesh court for their role in a plot to assassinate Sheikh Hasina in 2004. An attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004, targeted Hasina, the then Opposition leader when she was about to end a speech in front of thousands of supporters.

Hasina survived the attack with partial hearing loss, but her party's women front chief and former president Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman was killed in the blasts. Rahman was tried in absentia with the court declaring him a "fugitive". He now lives in London.

In August 2023, Rahman was sentenced to nine years in jail and his wife to three years for accumulating wealth beyond their declared income. The court found them guilty of amassing illegal wealth and concealing information about the wealth, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge ruled after the couple's trial in absentia.