Why does Tarique Rahman need a ’travel pass’ to come home?

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman can be given a travel pass in a day if he wants to return home, said Touhid Hossain, the foreign affairs advisor to the interim government. His comment has sparked new discussions. The question is, why would Tarique Rahman need a 'travel pass' to come home.

It is known that citizens usually need this specialized travel pass if they do not have a passport. And the foreign affairs advisor's comment clearly indicates that Tarique Rahman may not have received or taken a Bangladeshi passport yet. Overall, the issue of travel passes has aroused new curiosity in the public. Earlier on Saturday, Tarique Rahman wrote in a Facebook post that 'the opportunity to make decisions is not under sole control' regarding returning home.

In response to a question in this regard, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, "The foreign affairs advisor may have said this while expressing his goodwill. However, we think there will be no problem with travel passes or passports. Because the government also has goodwill in this regard."

In response to a question about whether Tarique Rahman had obtained or requested a Bangladeshi passport or whether there were any complications in obtaining a passport, the BNP standing member simply said, "I do not know about this."

In the wake of a controversy raised by the then Awami League government in 2018 over Tarique Rahman's passport, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said in April of that year that Tarique Rahman had applied for political asylum in Britain in 2012 and it was accepted within a year.

Earlier, after Tarique Rahman left the country for London in 2008, BNP had always said that he was staying abroad for medical treatment.

In response to the question of who gets the travel pass, former ambassador Humayun Kabir said that if a Bangladeshi citizen does not have a passport or loses his passport or if there is not enough time to issue a passport for someone, then the Bangladesh High Commission or embassy in the relevant country issues him a travel pass only to come to the country.

He said, ‘This is one-way, that is, only to come to Bangladesh. This travel pass is valid until he comes to the country.’

So according to the Foreign Affairs Advisor’s comment, if Tarique Rahman needs a travel pass, it means that he does not have a Bangladeshi passport at the moment. Although no one from the BNP side agreed to comment on this matter. Neither he nor the party has even disclosed whether Mr. Rahman has applied for a passport at all.

Meanwhile, according to the government’s announcement, the 13th National Parliament election is scheduled to be held next February. Tarique Rahman’s name is also on the list of BNP party candidates announced for that election. But on Monday, Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said that the acting chairman of BNP has not yet become a voter. However, just as it is mandatory to vote in Bangladesh, if your name is not on the voter list, you cannot become a candidate in the parliamentary elections.

EC Secretary Akhtar said, "However, if the EC decides, he will get the opportunity to vote and become a candidate in the next election. Legally, the EC has this jurisdiction."

Commission officials said that a request was recently made to the Election Commission from the BNP side that Tarique Rahman should get the opportunity to become a voter after returning to the country. Election Commission officials said that his wife Zubaida Rahman had collected the necessary information to include his name in the voter list after returning to the country from London in May this year.

Officials said that in the process of accepting applications for inclusion of expatriate voters in the voter list, anyone who applies will have to submit, along with other documents, a copy of a "valid or expired or foreign passport, a copy of a Bangladeshi citizenship certificate or a copy of a dual citizenship certificate."

The ousted Awami League government once claimed that Tarique Rahman had renounced his Bangladeshi citizenship. However, the BNP denied it.

All things considered, Tarique Rahman will have to return home with a travel pass, whether his Bangladeshi passport has expired or not. However, officials have suggested that he will be able to apply for inclusion in the voter list and a passport with a national identity card upon his return.

Source: BBC Bangla