Hero’s Welcome ! It is time for us all to build the country together. We want to build a safe Bangladesh – Tarique Rahman , Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Chairman

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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’.

“It is 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.