Can Tarique turn mourning into strength?
The past record offers food for thoughts and signs of optimism for the BNP and its followers
The unprecedented wave of people from all walks of life to attend the funeral for Khaleda Zia not only showed their last respect to her, they also honour her political legacy for fighting for rights and democracy.
Her departure just before February election in which she also filed nomination papers seeking candidacy to contest and lead her party BNP to fight against the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance rose to dominance from the vacuum created by the disqualification of Hasina's Awami League for the polls. Along with her legacy she left the BNP in a new reality. She will be missed like never before among her party leaders and followers. She passed the baton to her son Tarique Rahman who returned home less than a week before her mother's death, ending 17 years in exile.
The house of BNP is in grief now for Khaleda and observing seven-day mourning programme countrywide.
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Can the grief be turned into strength for the BNP to cross all the hurdles to win the election? Can the pain be transformed into a powerful force for growth in honour of Khaleda Zia's uncompromising spirit for the right causes?
If the image and popularity of Khaleda Zia who is loved by millions invokes emotion among people, this could work as a big force for the BNP to return to power after around two decades, the longest break for the party from power since its formation by late president Ziaur Rahman.
The past record offers food for thoughts and signs of optimism for the BNP and its followers.
The image and popularity of late president Ziaur Rahman among people helped the BNP to win the presidential election in November 1981 held after Zia's assassination in May that year. His vice-president Justice Abdus Sattar won a big win, defeating Awami League candidate. The win kept BNP, formed by Ziaur Rahman, in power.
Khaleda Zia herself got immense mileage from Zia's legacy to reorganise the BNP and intensified the fight against military dictator HM Ershad who in March 1982 overthrew the Justice Sattar-led BNP government from power within four months of returning to power through the 1981 presidential election.
From a housewife Khaleda started emerging as an uncompromising leader while she was intensifying the movement against Ershad by reorganising the BNP as its chairperson and forming alliance with other parties. She did not join the 1986 election as she said joining polls under Ershad regime would give him legitimacy. While the Awami League and Jamat joined the polls, Khaleda alone was bold on her stance and continued the movement. She was detained and put behind bars several times to silence her. But she did not stop.
The Awami League and Jamaat that joined the polls alleged widespread irregularities in the election, proving Khaleda's stance right. This solidified her position in politics. The Awami League and Jamaat later resigned from parliament and helped intensified the movement. By that time, Khaleda emerged as an uncompromising leader. The wave created by her image gave a big boost to the BNP to win the 1991 election after the fall of Ershad regime in an uprising in December 1990.
During the emergency rule from 2007 to 2008, she defied all pressure to retire from politics and leave the country. She was arrested and put behind bars in corruption cases. Her rival Sheikh Hasina faced the same fate. Khaleda led the BNP alliance to boycott the 2014 election as she announced election under the Hasina government would never be free and fair.
Khaleda Zia was right again as the three consecutive elections since 2014 was neither free nor fair. Those three elections only helped Hasina to cling to power and emerge as an authoritarian ruler until her downfall in August 2024 in an uprising – ultimately fleeing the country.
But after the fall of another autocratic rule this time Khaleda Zia is no more to lead her party in the upcoming election. She passed the battle to her son, BNP's acting chairman Tarique Rahman, and the party's leaders and followers to carry on her legacy.
This is a make-or-break election for the BNP and Tarique's leadership. A win could be the party's biggest tribute to Khaleda Zia. Can the BNP led by Tarique make it possible?
