After 17 years in exile, Acting Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Tarique Rahman is poised to return home on Thursday morning (December 25, 2025), a moment the party describes as both politically significant and emotionally charged.
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed disclosed a detailed timeline at a press conference held at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office on Wednesday (December 24, 2025).
According to the plan, Tarique Rahman will depart London’s Heathrow Airport on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, accompanied by his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman and daughter Zaima Rahman.
Senior journalist Saleh Shibly and three personal aides will also travel with him.
The aircraft is scheduled to land in Dhaka at 11:55am. From the airport, Tarique will proceed directly to a public reception arranged on the service lane of the 300 Feet Road, where he will deliver a brief address to supporters.
To minimise public inconvenience and traffic congestion in Dhaka, Tarique Rahman alone will speak at the reception, said Salahuddin.
After the programme, he will visit BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is currently undergoing treatment in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of Evercare Hospital, Bashundhara, to enquire about her health.
He will then return to his designated residence in Gulshan.
On Friday, following the Jumma prayers, Tarique Rahman will visit the grave of BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman. He is also scheduled to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War at the National Memorial.
On Saturday, Tarique Rahman will be formally registered as a voter. After completing the process, he will visit the grave of Osman Hadi near the Dhaka University Central Mosque.
He will later go to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), popularly known as Pangu Hospital, to meet those injured in the July 2024 uprising.
Tarique Rahman was arrested during the caretaker government in 2007 and spent around 18 months in prison.
After his release in 2008, he left for the United Kingdom for advanced medical treatment. Although he has been leading the party from abroad, his return now comes as he prepares to take a more direct role in party affairs after a long 17-year absence.
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