Tariq Rahman

Tariq Rahman is the Bangladesh Nationalist Party front figure in Dhaka matters: an election for Bangladesh. Mark Johnson reports travelling with him on a bulletproof campaign bus from Dhaka to a rally in Mymensingh after Rahman returned from 17 years of self-exile in London.

The source treats Rahman as both electorally powerful and politically vulnerable. He denies wrongdoing, and newly independent courts have quashed convictions made against him during Sheikh Hasina’s rule, but the episode says an old American diplomatic cable alleging corruption still shadows his return.

Connections

• Bangladesh Nationalist Party — party he fronts in the election.
• Bangladesh — national campaign context.
• Sheikh Hasina — prior government under which convictions were made in absentia.
• Mark Johnson — correspondent reporting from the campaign trail.
• Democratic Transition Election — concept for the election in which his reputation matters.