Day: 9 January 2017

To understand and determine the position of Tarique Rahman in the national politics of Bangladesh, one has to look first at Shaheed (Martyred) President Ziaur Rahman, a legendary statesman, emerged through the passage of history as one of the most popular leaders of our time. Otherwise an unknown young military officer, stationed in Chittagong as a Major of 8 East Bengal Regiment, he took the courage of declaring the independence of a new sovereign state now called Bangladesh in the face of the onslaught of the Pakistan Army on the unarmed people of East Pakistan. In the absence of the political leaders who had so long led the people to struggle for a self-rule for the Bengalis, it was the voice of Ziaur Rahman broadcasted over the radio from Kalurghat transmission outlet, in the afternoon of 27th March 1971, which inspired millions of people to start a war and ultimately liberated the country in December 1971.

After the glorious victory in the war, Ziaur Rahman returned to his professional position in the Bangladesh Army, while the political leaders took the responsibility to govern the new nation. In less than four years on 15th August 1975, the people faced a national tragedy when some army officers killed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who only five months before had turned the country into a one-party monolithic rule to become the omnipotent President of the new Republic. With the demise of Sheikh Mujib, the government was taken over by Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed, a senior leader of his own party, by imposing Martial Law in the country. After 2 months and 18 days, on 3rd November, in a countercoup, the Chief of General Staff Khaled Mosharraf put

Ziaur Rahman, the Chief of Army Staff, under house arrest and reversed the country to the hegemony of the neighboring state of India. As an instant reaction, it caused a spontaneous public uprising on 7th November 1975 when common people and ordinary soldiers of nearby cantonments joined hand to free Ziaur Rahman and install him in power to lead the nation.

The emergence of Ziaur Rahman to power, already well known for his brave role in the liberation war of 1971, caught the imagination of people, and more so, as he neither staged any coup or killed any political leader, nor did he dislodge any elected government. Further, he neither proclaimed the Martial Law, nor did he dissolve the Parliament to assume the authority to govern the country. He appeared before the nation as a clean person endowed with a great amount of charisma.

So unlike other military leaders, the rise of Ziaur Rahman in the national politics was unique by itself. In order to unite the people and rebuild the nation, he introduced a new political philosophy based on Bangladeshi nationalism to achieve a self-reliant economy for a modern Bangladesh. As opposed to one-party rule, he brought back the multi-party democratic system with all the fundamental rights, freedom of press, and independence of judiciary being guaranteed. Ziaur Rahman’s new approach to national development galvanised the entire nation. In terms of peace, social harmony and good governance, Bangladesh entered a golden period under a remarkable leader, who was loved and admired by the masses for his integrity and dedication.

But unfortunately, Zia did not survive for too long. As the most outstanding leader of all time, Zia laid slain with piercing bullets in his chest by sixteen men who came in a jeep and two pick-ups from the nearby cantonment. The killing was accomplished on 30th May 1981 in twenty minutes in a commando-style attack by a group of junior and mid-rank military officers at the Chittagong Circuit House where he was staying the night. His extraordinary popularity was marked by a historical funeral attended by more than one million people.

Zia ruled for about six years as an idol to his people. He was, in the traditional sense, incorruptible. He lived a frugal life. His personal habits and moral grounds were never in question. He had virtually no asset or property of his own and never tried to accumulate any. He lived a simple life and avoided any kind of luxury. He used 1300cc sedan ordinary cars for his travelling. He improved the relationship of Bangladesh with China and other Muslim countries, and was considered to be a nationalist opposed to the hegemony of India. Ziaur Rahman enjoyed enormous public credibility as an honest leader and ruled the country with the trust and confidence of his people.

I had the privilege of working with Ziaur Rahman very closely in amending the constitution to restore democracy and Islamic values, and steering the new philosophy to build a modern state to stand as a respectable nation in the world community. I helped him in formulating the constitution and manifesto of the BNP to carry forward his philosophy and political programmes. I have seen in him a true patriot with relentless energy and resilience dedicated to the cause of people.

Now I clearly see in Tarique Rahman a lot of qualities of his father. A polite and amiable, eager to hear and learn, pragmatic than emotional, a bright young man who is destined to lead the new generations of a povertystricken country where youths under his leadership will strive to bring the emancipation of people.

Tarique Rahman has emerged as a political leader on his own merit. Although as a son of Ziaur Rahman and Begum Khaleda Zia he enjoyed some natural advantages in the beginning, he reached the leadership position from the grassroots level through a democratic process for which he had to work very hard. Tarique had already proved his quality of leadership during the national elections held in 2001. He established a high-tech unit at the party office known as Hawa Bhaban, devoted to research on national politics and the party’s ground level position, election strategies and nomination procedures. With his office staffed by a young group of professionals trained in information technology, they had the entire country surveyed constituency by constituency and district by district, and their database was filled with information on the politics at the grassroots level. The young turkeys of the party from different levels provided the strength for Tarique to move forward and do all the political planning, which brought the BNP into power with a thunderous majority in the Parliament and made his charismatic mother the elected Prime Minister for the third term.

The BNP government of 2001-2006, led by Begum Khaleda Zia, made a great step forward towards progress in all major social sectors: education, healthcare, family welfare and child mortality. Having already attained a 6.7% annual growth rate in 2006, Bangladesh, under her leadership, achieved the distinction of being one of the rising tigers in Asia with the potential of a largescale economic leap-forward backed by huge foreign investment.

With nearly five years of endless corruption, intolerance, misrule and tyranny of the Awami League government and their failures in sustaining a peaceful democratic order, the expectations now run very high among all sections of people to see a real change in Bangladesh. I believe that once Tarique Rahman returns from abroad to take over the leadership of the BNP, he will have a dynamic team of clean, bright, educated and motivated individuals to work with him and take the country to the next level.

Tarique Rahman would be committed to democracy and tolerance to usher in a new political culture in the country and he will follow the personal values and the political philosophy left by his father. He will be ruthless in dealing with corruption, particularly at the high levels of the government. He will establish rule of law, build institutions placed above the individuals and strive to establish a strong and effective Parliament to ensure transparency of the government. He will show respect to the opposition, and abandon politics of reprisals and vengeance. Tarique Rahman is going to encourage bipartisanship in resolving national issues like water sharing, transit, maritime rights and security of the state. With all the potentials of cutting-edge technology and enterprising minds of millions of youths, under the leadership of Tarique Rahman, the people will certainly see much better days to come for an economically vibrant, democratically independent and politically sovereign Bangladesh.

Barrister Moudud Ahmed Member
Politician and Former Vice President of Bangladesh, Former Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford and Harvard University

Scion of a respectable family of Gabtali, District Bogra, Bangladesh, Tarique Rahman was born in a family which is well known for education and cultural heritage. People around the area used to go to his ancestors for local reconciliation and arbitration knowing the family to be pious, God fearing and truthful. The century old building standing on the ancestral homestead bears the relic and lustre of feudal aristocracy for the posterior generation to remember, in retrospect, the tradition of love and affection of the family towards the people and vice versa.  With such background, it is not a surprise that Tarique Rahman has proved himself to possess the qualities of a leader that is demanded for bearing the high responsibilities for conducting affairs of his party and the people.

His father President Ziaur Rahman chose his career in the Military service as being enthused by patriotism from his boyhood. Thus, while in Military service, Ziaur Rahman was wedded to Begum Khaleda, daughter of Ms Tayeba Begum and Toyabur Rahman, a descendent of famous ‘T’ family of Boda Police Station within the greater district of Dinajpur Prior to the partition of India in 1947. Boda, Debiganj, Panchagarh and Tetulia police stations were part of rich district of Jalpaiguri of undivided Bengal. ‘T’ family of which the origin was Munshi Tariqullah, a landlord otherwise known as famous jotdar who used to employ revenue collector for collection of rents from the tenants and cultivators to cultivate vast chunk of lands of his own possession. Besides, Munshi Tariqullah was shareholder of tea garden and a businessman during the World War I and earned huge amount of money. The family came in touch with the British Administration through the Deputy Commissioner of Non-Regulating district of Jalpaiguri which was the richest district for tea garden and tea industry in the then united Bengal. As long as Munshi Tariqullah was alive, he lived with fame, honour, dignity and power of a respectable landlord. ‘T’ originated from Tariqullah; his descendants were named with ‘T’ being the first letter of the name such as Taskinuddin, Taslimuddin, Toyabur Rahman, Tayeba and so on.

Incidentally the family of Ziaur Rahman was related to the ‘T’ family. Khaleda was the youngest daughter of Eskender Majumder and Tayeba Majumder. Majumder came also of a landed aristocracy holding Mouza of land at Fulgazi in the greater district of Noakhali. Majumder was tall and handsome and chose his occupation as businessman in addition to his Mouza land and gracefully retired as the chairman of Dinajpur Chamber of Commerce.

Of the three sisters, Khaleda was the most beautiful. There was an ongoing household talk in the greater district of Dinajpur that the matchmaker proposed to Ziaur Rahman that he had seen a bride for him. Had he agreed to marry her, he would not need a lamp or electricity in his house as the dazzling beauty of the bride would clear out all the darkness. Ziaur Rahman smiled and agreed to marry. So they were happily married.

Out of this happy wedlock, Tarique Rahman was born as the eldest son of the family. Ziaur Rahman was widely recognised as a respectable, dignified, dutiful and truthful professional soldier. Tarique was brought up in an unostentatious and peaceful atmosphere. Both Ziaur Rahman and Begum Khaleda Zia disliked the idea of giving or offering more than the son Tarique needed. Tarique was grooming up under the affectionate care and custody of his beloved mother Begum Khaleda Zia who was a popular and loveable housewife liked by all the members of the family, including the near and distant relatives. When Tarique grew up to go to school, he was admitted to a reputed school named Shaheen High School and College, primarily meant for the children of the Army personnel.

The political struggle for the right of self determination of nation was at the peak and well spread all over the country. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then leader, was taken to custody by General Yahya Khan’s military Junta. There was none to lead the disappointed and frustrated Nation. And at that crucial moment, Major Ziaur Rahman declared the war of independence of Bangladesh from Kalurghat Radio station, Chittagong. Thus, the war of independence was started by Major Ziaur Rahman and other heroic Sector Commanders.

The Legacy of Tarique Rahman’s Family

After a severe fight of war of independence for about nine months from 26th March to 16th December 1971, against Pakistani forces of about 93 to 99 thousands, Bangladesh became independent. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from Pakistani jail and became the President of Bangladesh. A Constitution was passed in the National Constituent Assembly on 16th December 1972. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ruled mercilessly with the Rakshi Bahini, Mujib Bahini and Lal Bahini, all of which were his own creatures. Motivated by communist and extreme leftist like his nephew Sheikh Fazlul Hauq Moni, Sheikh Mujubur Rahman amended the Constitution for One Party Rule naming the Party as Bangladesh Krishak, Sramik Awami League i.e., BAKSAL. That was the turning point from democracy to dictatorship which was abhorred by and unacceptable to the people.

Subsequently, with the passage of time, One Party Rule of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came to an end by a coup-de-tat led by Colonel Faruq Rahman, Colonel Shahriar and some other democracy loving army personnel. And Khandakar Moshtaq Ahmed, a close political colleague of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was made the President. Moshtaq Ahmed appointed Ziaur Rahman as the Chief of Army Staff, as he was the senior most Major General at that time. Moshtaq Ahmed ran the administration for about ninety days.

Suddenly, Major General Khaled Mosharaff and Colonel Shafaet Jamil attempted a coup-de-tat against President Moshtaq Ahmed and asked him to hand over the power to Major General Khaled Mosharaff, which Moshtaque Ahmed refused. And the attempted coup failed with a compromise that Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Abu Sadat Md Sayem, would become the President of Bangladesh. Major General Ziaur Rahman was arrested and kept in custody by Major General Khaled Mosharaff.

Soon after, the anti-Indian common soldiers staged a mid-night coup overthrowing Major General Khaled Mosharaff. They freed Major General Ziaur Rahman from the custody and restored him to his position of the Chief of Army Staff under the Chief Justice as well as the President Abu Sadat Md Sayem. Thereafter, Chief Justice Sayem, not being a good administrator, resigned of his own free will and nominated Ziaur Rahman as the President of Bangladesh. Shortly afterward, in the General election held in 1978, Ziaur Rahman was directly elected by the people as the President defeating his rival candidate General AG Osmany, nominated by the Awami League.  Having passed the SSC and HSC examinations, Tarique entered the

University of Dhaka as a student of International Relations, a subject of his choice. While in the University, he read political thoughts of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Roussou, Voltaire, Karl Marx and other exceptional thinkers. He concentrated more on socio-economic and political subjects including, the in-depth study of gradual development of democracy, especially in the British India. He also read social science subjects to know the condition of the people, such as Economics for the solution of economic problem of the people, and Political Science to embrace the concept of welfare state for providing food, clothing, shelter, medicine and education to the people. He learnt a great deal about statehood comprising of territory, population and an effective government elected by the people through a free, fair and impartial election.

Tarique Rahman’s entry into politics dates back to 1990s. In the 1991 national elections, he watched the politics and thought of devising the ways and means as to how to win the mind of the voters. In the 1996 elections, he put in his disc of three hundred constituencies of Bangladesh, with the names of leaders and vital active political workers of districts, upazilas, pourashavas, union presishads, and other administrative units of his party, i.e., the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). He strengthened the student front, youth front and other allied organisations of the BNP. It is here, his success lies. If there is any problem anywhere, he can sort it out easily because he knows who are creating the problems and what for. It was a fruitful lesson from his mother ‘Deshnetri ’ Begum Khaleda Zia who was elected Prime Minister three times and developed the country enormously, changing the fate of the suffering people for the better.

As a son of a President and a Prime Minister, Tarique was never given or granted any extra benefit or privilege. Tarique lives a modest life, having no attraction towards money or money making. Tarique married Zubaida Rahman, a beautiful daughter of Late Rear Admiral Mahabub Ali Khan whose family background is also well known and famous in the greater District of Sylhet. Some of her ancestors had been educated in England during the British regime. A physician by profession, Zubaida had been an intelligent student with well-educated pedigree having human approach towards life. Their only daughter Zaima, good looking, intelligent and well-mannered, has been pursuing her school education successfully for an easy access to any of the best universities of the world.

Tarique’s father President Ziaur Rahman was a great commoner. He used to consult proper persons and experts in complicated problems and then

The Legacy of Tarique Rahman’s Family

used to give his decision. In ninety per cent cases, his decisions were right. He had no vengeance against anybody who disagreed with him. He was a hard working person. He could keep the citizens busy with works such as canal digging, planting fruit bearing trees, increasing number of hatcheries and fisheries, and encouraging people to grow more food. He travelled from villages to villages, police stations to police stations, districts to districts, enthusing people to do something to change their fate. A great democrat, a believer in the rule of law, Ziaur Rahman stabilised law and order, democracy and the sovereignty of the country. With all the achievements, he became an outstanding leader in the national as well as international politics as the thinker and planner  of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Vice President of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), member of the Al-Quds Committee, and an Arbitrator in the Iran–Iraq war. From the ignominy of bottomless basket as remarked by the US Foreign Secretary Henry Kissinger, President Zia raised Bangladesh as a member of the Security Council.

Tarique possesses all the qualities of his father. Besides, Tarique’s thoughts for promotion of international peace, security and solidarity, respect for national sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, peaceful settlement of international disputes, respect for principles enunciated in the United Nations Charter, renunciation of the use of force in international relations, are well known.

Tarique is eloquent to support the oppressed people throughout the world waging a just struggle against imperialism, colonialism or racialism and to consolidate, preserve and strengthen friendship to all and malice to none. He is a great upholder of human rights and empowerment of the women. Tarique can contribute a lot in the politics for the BNP, Bangladeshi nationalism and the people.

His rivals are jealous and afraid of him, for, he had been a political activist leading successfully the active BNP politics shoulder to shoulder with the people as Senior Joint Secretary General. He is now the Senior Vice Chairman of the BNP with utmost commitment to democracy, rule of law and sovereignty of the country, and with an emphasis on the peace and prosperity of the people. He keeps in view the Islamic values of life as more than 90% citizens of Bangladesh are Muslims. He hates communalism and terrorism of any manner. He is thorough about the election processes and machineries to hold a free, fair and impartial election. He can implement his father’s much acclaimed 19-point programmes for the people to solve their social, political and economic problems. He knows the new generation, as well as their problems and demands thoroughly, so as to easily win them on his side.

Well conversant with world politics, Tarique Rahman can successfully participate in any important table talks, round table conferences, seminars and symposiums, as well as national and international conferences. While delivering speech either in a private or a public meeting, Tarique speaks lucidly point-wise, bringing home his point to the listeners who grasp it quickly. He has a well established network of men and materials throughout the country to win the general elections, if held, under the non-party caretaker government.

Notes

1. ‘Deshnetri’ means leader of the country in Bengali.

I have intentionally avoided calling him the architect as some does with my view that normally architect commences work upon getting instructions from someone.

Barrister Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar Member
Politician, Former Acting President of Bangladesh