BANGLADESH Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman returned to Dhaka to a rousing welcome by thousands of his supporters on Thursday after over 17 years in self-exile - - a homecoming that is expected to energise the party ahead of the February 12 parliamentary elections. Shortly after landing at the Hazrat Shahjalal International airport, Rahman, the leading contender to be the country’s next prime minister, stood barefoot on Bangladeshi soil in a symbolic gesture to mark his return to the country’s politics.

 

Hours later, the 60-year-old son of ailing former prime minister Khaleda Zia, addressing his supporters, gave a clarion call to maintain peace and stability in the country and presented a broad plan to build an “inclusive Bangladesh”. “Itis time for us all to build the country together.We want to build a safe Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, no matter who a woman, man, or child is, they should be able to leave their homes safely and return safely,” he said.

 

The homecoming of the BNP heir apparent comes amid a fresh wave of unrest and political instability gripping Bangladesh following the killing of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, who was a prominent face in last year’s mass protests that forced the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government. “I have a plan for the people of my country and for my country,” he said referring to US civil rights activist Mart in Luther King’s“I have a dream” remark.

 

In his speech to BNP supporters at the July 36 Expressway in Dhaka, Rahman said he wants to make an inclusive Bangladesh where people, irrespective of castes, creeds and faiths, can live in a peaceful environment. “We have people from the hills and the plains in this country Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians.We want to build a safe Bangladesh, where every woman, man and child can leave home safely,” he said.

 

Rahman, accompanied by wife Zubaida and daughter Zaima, was received at the Hazrat Shahjalal International airport in Dhaka by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other senior party leaders amid tight security.