# Tarique Rahman

Tarique Rahman (born 20 November 1965), better known natively as Tarique Zia, is a Bangladeshi politician and businessman, who is the acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since February 2018. He is the eldest son of Ziaur Rahman, former Bangladeshi president, and first female prime minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia. He is also the publisher of The Daily Dinkal newspaper. He is widely seen as an influential figure in BNP and held several high-profile positions within the party, including the post of senior vice chairman.
In 2018, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for organising the 2004 Dhaka grenade attack by then-Awami League government, which his associates claim were false allegations and a political ploy. However, he was acquitted by the court in 2024. Tarique was involved in politics from a young age and rose to prominence in BNP during his mother's tenure as prime minister in the early 2000s. In 2008, Tarique's mother lost the general election, and the BNP was replaced by the Awami League-led government. Tarique Zia went into self-imposed exile in London soon after, citing concerns for his safety and claiming that he was being persecuted by the authorities.

## Early life and family

Rahman was born on 20 November 1965 in Dacca, East Pakistan (modern-day Dhaka, Bangladesh). He belongs to a notable Bengali Muslim political family of Mandals hailing from Bagbari in Gabtali, Bogra District. His father, Ziaur Rahman, was the 7th President of Bangladesh, and his mother, Khaleda Zia, was the 10th Prime Minister and first female Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

## Education

In his early childhood, he studied at BAF Shaheen College Dhaka and completed his SSC from Dhaka Residential Model College. He then earned his HSC from Adamjee Cantonment College. In 1984–85, he was admitted to the University of Dhaka first in the Department of Law and later in the Department of International Relations.

## Political career

Rahman started his political career as a primary member of the BNP Gabtali Upazila, Bogura District in 1988.
Rahman actively assembled support for the party during the national elections of 1991, when the transition was taking place from military government to the elected BNP government.

### Joining politics

Rahman was a member of the BNP's National Campaign Strategy Committee, and was also responsible for coordinating the election campaigns in five constituencies from which his mother Khaleda Zia was contesting.

### Major contribution in politics

During that period, he proactively organized the BNP units of Bogura and changed the inherent cultures to make politics more production and development oriented.
After the BNP's success in the national elections of 1991 and the formation of the new government, Rahman was offered a senior role in the party as recognition of his contributions. However, he was reluctant to take up a higher position in order to have enough time to strengthen the party at the grassroots level. For many years, he remained active in developing the Bogura units of the BNP. During the national elections of 1996, the party grassroots and the senior leadership requested Rahman to contest a constituency from Bogura. But he declined the offer with a view to furthering his work at the grassroots levels and coordinating the election campaigns for his mother.
During the ruling of the Awami League government in 1996–2001, Rahman mobilized movements against the actions of the government. He actively campaigned to address issues of economic deprivation and started championing a countrywide consultation program aimed at publicizing the plight of the people living in rural areas.
In the national elections held in 2001, the party won a landslide victory with a two-thirds majority.

### Arrest

Tarique Rahman was the prime suspect in the 21 August 2004 Dhaka attack which targeted a public rally organized by the then-opposition party Awami League. The attack using targeted the entire top leadership of Awami League including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and killed 24 Awami league leaders and workers including Ivy Rahman, the president of Women Awami League, and the wife of former Bangladeshi President, Zillur Rahman. The attack also injured hundreds of victims. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by Bangladesh Court.
In 2024, Tarique was acquitted after the whole trial proceedings was judged to be "illegal".

### Exile and asylum

Following the release of Rahman's mother Khaleda Zia on 11 September 2008, he flew to London, United Kingdom for medical treatment at Wellington hospital, an independent private hospital in St. John's Wood. The 1/11 caretaker government backed by the army confirmed that Rahman gave written bond of not to indulge in any future politics and was allowed to go abroad.
The Anti-Corruption Commission filed 12 cases against Rahman and his friend and business partner, Giasuddin Al Mamun, which BNP claims is politically motivated and cases are being filed as part of the conspiracy of the immediate past caretaker government to prevent Rahman from participating in Bangladesh politics. On 16 October 2009, the High Court issued a rule asking the government and the Anti Corruption Commission to explain why the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case against Khaleda Zia and Rahman should not be quashed on a petition filed by Zia. On 9 November 2017, the Bangladesh Supreme Court dismissed Khaleda and Rahman's petition seeking stay on trial proceedings on the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. The lower court now has no legal bar to continue the corruption case against them.
Khaleda Zia said her son would take part in active politics upon his return from abroad after completing treatment. She addressed a few public meetings on her way to Bogura and alleged that the then present government was trying to harass her son so that he cannot return to the country. She said, "Tareque worked for the development of the country, but a lot of cases were filed only to destroy him as a part of national as well as international conspiracies." She also added, "On March 7, 2007, he was picked up in a car right in front of me. But after the custody my son had to be sent abroad in a stretcher for treatment... Doctors have said his recovery will take more time…"
On 8 December 2009, in The 5th National Council of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Rahman was declared as the senior vice chairman of BNP.
On 25 July 2013, Rahman was invited to an Iftar party in London arranged by the expatriate supporters of the party. In September 2013, some representatives from the Government of the United States met Rahman and discussed some bilateral issues.
On 4 January 2014, in a video message posted on YouTube, Rahman called for a boycott of the next day's general election in Bangladesh.
In 2015, Tarique Rahman registered a private firm by the name of White and Blue Consultants Limited which is a PR and communications firm. The documentation of incorporation filed with the UK Companies House shows that Tarique has listed his nationality as British. However, in 2016, he amended the paperwork and listed his nationality as Bangladeshi. However, this error has been used by many as evidence to support claims of state officials including Md. Shahriar Alam to claim he has acquired British citizenship. Tarique Rahman denied this claim and served a legal notice to Md. Shahriar Alam demanding an apology for his remarks about him allegedly having British citizenship.
In November 2018, Rahman conducted the interview process through Skype for the nomination seekers of BNP party at the 2018 Bangladeshi general election.

### Post Student-People's Uprising

After the fall of Sheikh Hasina, Tarique pledged to return to Bangladesh after the cases against him were lifted. He also pledged to support the reform process of the interim government.

## Cases and controversies
### Money laundering case

On 7 June 2007, a money laundering case was submitted against Rahman and his friend and business partner Giasuddin Al Mamun by the Bangladesh Anti Corruption Commission at a court in Dhaka. In a verdict given on 18 November 2013 by the court, Rahman was acquitted in the case involving BDT 20.41 crore. The Bangladesh Anti Corruption Commission member Mohammed Shahabuddin rejected the verdict, saying: "Tarique and Mamun had equal footing in the crime. So, legally there was no scope to differentiate."
BNP officials and leaders claimed that this judgement is a proof of his innocence and he had no involvement with corruption, and that all the cases against Rahman were "politically motivated".
On 21 July 2016, Rahman was found guilty by the Bangladesh High Court overturning a lower court verdict that acquitted him earlier. He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment and fined Tk 20 crore by the Court. One interesting thing to note in this case here is right after delivering the controversial not-guilty verdict, the lower court judge fled the country.
On 5 December 2024, he and his friend Giasuddin Al Mamun was acquitted by the high court of Bangladesh.

### 2004 Dhaka grenade attack case

On 10 October 2018, Rahman was sentenced to life in prison for the case of the 2004 Dhaka grenade attack. He was accused to be the mastermind of the attack by Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader. However, the accusation was denied by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
On 22 November 2024, the High Court concluded a hearing on the appeals and death references of the grenade attack cases. On 1 December 2024, Tarique, Lutfozzaman Babar and 47 others were acquitted by the court.

### Sedition case

In 2015, a case against Rahman was filed by an Awami League official over remarks he made at a speech in London in 2014 about Bangladesh's founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was also the founder of the Awami League, which were alleged to be seditious. He was acquitted of the charges in 2024.

## Personal life

Rahman currently lives in suburban London. He married Zubaida Rahman on 3 February 1994, a physician and the youngest daughter of Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan, former Chief of Naval Staff of Bangladesh Navy and the first cousin of Irene Khan, currently serving as the United Nations Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion. Their only daughter Zaima Rahman is a Barrister. Zubaida became a government physician in 1995 after passing the Bangladesh Civil Service exam and fired by the Awami League government in September 2014 for being absent from work for six years.