Today (September 3) marks the 19th Prison Release Day of Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman.

He was released on bail on this day in 2008, after spending nearly 18 months in prison.

In the early hours of March 7, 2007, Tarique, who was then the BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General, was arrested from his residence in Dhaka Cantonment and taken into custody. During his imprisonment, he was subjected to brutal torture.

After securing bail in the cases filed against him, he travelled to England in 2008 for advanced medical treatment.

He remained in exile in the United Kingdom for 17 years before returning to Bangladesh on December 25 last year, following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024, in a student-led popular uprising.

Five days later, his mother, former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, died after a prolonged illness.

Khaleda Zia, the country’s first woman prime minister and a two-time former prime minister, had been imprisoned during the Hasina government, which also prevented her from travelling abroad for medical treatment.

In the 13th parliamentary election held on February 12 this year, the BNP secured a two-thirds majority and formed the government. Tarique, the party’s Chairman, subsequently assumed office as Prime Minister and became the head of government.