‘My Return Not Fully in My Hands’: Tarique Rahman as Khaleda Zia Battles Critical Illness
BNP acting chairman says he longs to be beside his ailing mother; Yunus-led interim govt says it has no objection to his return.
GG News Bureau
Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) self-exiled acting chairman Tarique Rahman said on Saturday that his return to Bangladesh was not fully within his control, even as his mother and former prime minister Khaleda Zia battles a “very critical” illness.
Khaleda Zia, 80, was admitted to a private hospital on November 23 after developing a chest infection that seriously affected both her heart and lungs. In a predawn Facebook post from London, Rahman, 60, who has lived in the UK since 2008, wrote that he longed to be beside his mother “like any child” during this “moment of crisis.” However, he added that making a unilateral decision to return was “not in my hands alone nor solely within my control,” noting that the sensitivity of the matter prevented further explanation.
Rahman, Khaleda Zia’s only surviving child, said the family remained hopeful that once the “current political realities reach the expected stage,” his long wait to return home would come to an end. He added that his mother remained in “deep crisis” under intensive medical care, supported by a team of specialists from within Bangladesh and abroad.
His post did not specify what issues were preventing his return. The UK government has also declined to clarify his legal status, citing confidentiality laws.
Hours after his remarks were posted online, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ office stated that the interim government had no objection to Rahman coming back to Bangladesh. “There are no restrictions or objections from the government in this matter,” Yunus’ press secretary Shafiqul Alam said in a Facebook post.
BNP has re-emerged as a major force in Bangladesh’s altered political landscape following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2025, in a student-led uprising. The interim administration led by Yunus took charge three days later and subsequently disbanded Awami League’s activities under the country’s Terrorism Act, barring the party from contesting the upcoming general elections scheduled for February.
Neither Rahman nor Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy is currently in Bangladesh, a country where political leadership has long been influenced by family lineage.
In an interview with BBC Bangla on Friday, Joy claimed that a “foreign game” was underway to reshape leadership in both major parties, though he did not elaborate. When asked whether he intended to lead Awami League in the absence of his mother, he replied that the decision lay with the party. Hasina has been living in India since her ouster last year.
