For almost two decades, Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has been perceived as a “notorious” and “widely feared” individual, who has been “notorious for flagrantly and frequently demanding bribes in connection with Government procurement actions and appointments to political office”, while is also is seen as a “symbol of kleptocratic Government and violent politics in Bangladesh”.
This was disclosed in a confidential cable sent by the US ambassador in Bangladesh, James F Moriarty, on November 3, 2008, to the Secretary of State, seeking to suspend entry of Tarique Rahman to the United State, Ambassador James F Moriarty wrote: “The Embassy is seeking a security advisory opinion under section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Presidential Proclamation 7750, suspending the entry into the United States of Tarique Rahman (aka Tarique), born on November 20, 1967 in Bangladesh. The Embassy believes Tarique Rahman is guilty of egregious political corruption that has had a serious adverse effect on US national interests mentioned in Section 4 of the proclamation, namely the stability of democratic institutions and US foreign assistance goals. The Embassy is not seeking to apply a 212(f) finding to Tarique Rahaman’s wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, to their daughter, Zaima Rahman, or to his mother Begum Khaleda Zia, a former Prime Minister of Bangladesh”.
Ambassador James F Moriarty further wrote: “Tarique Rahman, the notorious and widely feared son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was released on bail from prison on September 3. He departed Bangladesh to seek medical treatment in the UK on September 11. Having served as the Senior Joint Secretary General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Tarique Rahman is an extremely high profile political figure. Notorious for flagrantly and frequently demanding bribes in connection with Government procurement actions and appointments to political office, Tarique Rahman is a symbol of kleptocratic Government and violent politics in Bangladesh. His release occurred despite multiple pending cases against him on charges of, inter alia, corruption, extortion, bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion. With deep political ties that reach the highest court in the land, Tarique managed to manipulate the judicial process and overcome a concerted effort by the Caretaker Government to block his bail. We believe Tarique has several passports, including a new one in which the UK issued him a visa in September. Another passport contains a five year multiple-entry B1/B2 visa (issued May 11, 2005). We suspect that passport is being held by the Government”.
Accusing Tarique Rahman of accumulating hundreds of millions of dollars, Ambassador James F Moriarty wrote:
“Tarique Rahman reportedly has accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit wealth. There are multiple extortion cases pending against him, founded on the testimony of numerous prominent business owners who he victimized and exploited. In one case, Tarique allegedly threatened Al Amin Construction owner Amin Ahmed with closure of the company unless he received a payment of 150,000 USD. Other local business leaders, including Mohammad Aftab Uddin Khan of Reza Construction, Ltd, Mir Zahir Hossian of Mir Akhter Hossain Ltd., and Harun Ferdousi have each filed accusations detailing a systematic pattern of extortion on a multi-million dollar scale. The ACC has also filed charges of concealing ill-gotten wealth, and the National Board of Revenue has brought tax evasion charges against Tarique Rahman”.
He further wrote:
Tarique Rahman’s corrupt activities were not limited to the extortion of local companies. The ACC has also uncovered evidence in several bribery cases involving both foreign and local firms and individuals:
Siemens: According to a witness who funneled bribes from Siemens to Tarique Rahman and his brother Koko, Tarique received a bribe of approximately two per cent on all Siemens deals in Bangladesh (paid in US dollars). This case is currently being pursued by DOJ Asset Forfeiture (POC: Deputy Chief Linda Samuels) and by the FBI (POC: Debra Laprevotte).
Harbin Company: ACC sources report that the Harbin Company, a Chinese construction company, paid 750,000 USD to Tarique to open a plant. According to the ACC, one of Tarique Rahman’s cronies received the bribe and transported it to Singapore for deposit with Citibank.
Monem Construction: An ACC investigator advised Embassy officials that Monem Construction paid a bribe worth 450,000 USD to Tarique Rahman to secure contracts.
Kabir Murder Case: The ACC has evidence that Tarique Rahman accepted a 210 million taka (3.1 million USD) bribe to thwart the prosecution of a murder case against Sanvir Sobhan. Sanvir Sobhan is the son of the chairman of the Bashundura Group, one of the nation’s most prominent industrial conglomerates. Sanvir was accused in the killing of Humayun Kabir, a Bashundura Group director. An investigation by the ACC confirmed Tarique Rahman had solicited the payment, promising to clear Sanvir of all charges.
Beyond bribery and extortion, the ACC reports Tarique also became involved in an elaborate and lucrative embezzlement scheme. With the help of several accomplices, Tarique succeeded in looting 20 million taka (300,000 USD) from the Zia Orphanage Trust fund. According to an ACC source, Tarique, who is a co-signer on the trust fund account, used funds from the trust for a land purchase in his hometown. He also provided signed checks drawn from the orphanage fund accounts to BNP party members for their 2006 election campaigns.
Tarique Rahman’s corrupt practices have had deleterious effects on the US interests specified in the Proclamation. His antics have weakened public confidence in Government and eroded the stability of democratic institutions. Tarique Rahman’s well-established reputation for flouting the rule of law directly threatens US financial assistance goals directed toward reforming legal codes, strengthening good governance and halting judicial abuses. The bribery, embezzlement, and culture of corruption that Tarique Rahman has helped create and maintain in Bangladesh has directly and irreparably undermined US businesses, resulting in many lost opportunities. His theft of millions of dollars in public money has undermined political stability in this moderate, Muslim-majority nation and subverted US attempts to foster a stable democratic Government, a key objective in this strategically important region.
Tarique Rahman’s flagrant corruption has also seriously threatened specific US Mission goals. Embassy Dhaka has three key priorities for Bangladesh: democratization, development, and denial of space to terrorists. Tarique Rahman’s audaciously corrupt activities jeopardize all three. His history of embezzlement, extortion, and interference in the judicial process undermines the rule of law and threatens to upend the US goal of a stable, democratic Bangladesh. The climate of corrupt business practices and bribe solicitation that Tarique Rahman fostered derailed US efforts to promote economic development by discouraging much needed foreign investment and complicating the international operations of US companies. Finally, his flagrant disregard for the rule of law has provided potent ground for terrorists to gain a foothold in Bangladesh while also exacerbating poverty and weakening democratic institutions. In short, much of what is wrong in Bangladesh can be blamed on Tarique and his cronies.
Applying a 212(f) finding to Tarique Rahman supports the US’s strong stand against corruption in Bangladesh. Embassy recommends that Tarique Rahman be found subject to Presidential Proclamation 7750 for participating in public official corruption as defined by Section 1, Paragraph (c) of the Proclamation.
Meanwhile, in a shocking revelation, evidence has emerged pointing to a disturbing nexus between numerous politicians in the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union, and an undisclosed terrorist organization in Bangladesh. This undisclosed organization, believed to be the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its ideological ally Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), has allegedly been exchanging significant sums of money for political influence and favors from Western lawmakers. Furthermore, recent reports indicate that the BNP has appointed Hunter Biden as its lobbyist, tasking him with leveraging the Biden administration’s power to overthrow the secularist government of Awami League and reinstate BNP into power.
At the center of this controversy is Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the BNP, who is not only a convicted terrorist but has also been involved in funding and supporting cross-border insurgency groups in India. Major General Gaganjit Singh, former Deputy Director General of India’s Defense Intelligence Agency, has labeled Tarique Rahman as the mastermind behind a major arms haul in Chattogram (Chittagong) in 2004. The arms were intended for multiple rebel groups in India’s northeast, with the BNP-Jamaat alliance providing sanctuary and support for these activities.
The BNP’s involvement in terrorist activities extends further, as evidenced by the orchestrated grenade attacks on Sheikh Hasina and leaders of the Awami League in 2004. These attacks resulted in the loss of 24 lives and numerous injuries. Tarique Rahman, along with other BNP members and former top intelligence officials, was found guilty and received various punishments for their involvement in the attacks. In fact, Rahman himself was sentenced to life in prison. The verdicts and convictions leave no room for doubt about the BNP’s terrorist agenda and its leaders’ direct involvement in heinous acts.
The United States Department of Justice has published court documents indicating that the BNP is considered an undesignated terrorist organization under US law. The organization has been associated with terrorist groups like Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Ansar Al Islam, Hizbut Tahrir, and others. Shockingly, despite these damning connections, Western politicians have been accepting lobbying assignments from the BNP and supporting its return to power, thereby jeopardizing the stability and secular nature of Bangladesh.
According to the Department of Justice, Tier III terrorist organizations are also called “undesignated terrorist organizations” because they qualify as terrorist organizations based on their activities alone without undergoing a formal designation process like Tier I and Tier II organizations.
From its inception, the BNP, led by military dictator General Ziaur Rahman, has pursued an anti-India, anti-Hindu, and pro-Islamist agenda, seeking to transform Bangladesh into a Taliban-like state. During its rule from 2001 to 2006, BNP supporters openly chanted extremist slogans and expressed hostility toward the United States. The party has also sponsored and patronized Islamist militant outfits like Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI), and Khatmey Nabuwat Movement, which have been responsible for targeting religious minorities and carrying out terrorist acts.
The BNP’s deeper ties with Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI), an organization advocating for the transformation of Bangladesh into a caliphate, further highlight its extremist ideology. Under BNP’s patronage, HeI has made a 13-point demand that includes suppressing freedom of expression, promoting discrimination against religious minorities, and imposing strict Islamic education in schools. These demands bear a striking resemblance to those of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and ISIS, raising serious concerns about the BNP’s radical connections and intentions.
Major General Gaganjit Singh, former Deputy Director General of India’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), said BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman was the mastermind of 10 truck arms haul in Chattogram [Chittagong] in 2004.
Talking to India Today and a television channel in Bangladesh, he said the arms were being supplied under direct patronization of the then BNP-Jamaat alliance to use Bangladesh as a sanctuary.
Ten trucks full of arms seized at Chittagong in April 2004 were meant not only for the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) but also for a few other rebel groups in India’s northeast to destabilize the country, he added. The arms were being supplied by taking advantage of the BNP-Jamaat alliance to use Bangladesh as a sanctuary, Singh revealed.
It may be mentioned here that, on August 21, 2004, at the direct instructions of Tarique Rahman, terrorists of BNP along with members of militancy outfits such as Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI) had launched grenade attacks targeting Sheikh Hasina and leaders of Awami League. According to the court verdict, this gruesome attack was a well-orchestrated plan through abuse of state power. And all the accused, including BNP Senior Vice Chairman (now acting chairman) Tarique Rahman and former top intelligence officials, were found guilty and handed down various punishments for the grenade attacks that killed 24 people and injured scores. In the murder case, Tarique Rahman and 18 others were sentenced to life in prison.
It may also be mentioned here that Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami is believed to have been founded as an offshoot of a Pakistani group in 1992 with money and support from suspected global terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. United Nations Security Council has termed Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islam as a “violent extremist group operating throughout South Asia, which has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in India and Pakistan”.
It further said, “HUJI’s relationship with Al-Qaida developed after the Taliban’s rise in Afghanistan, and included its members training in Al-Qaida camps. By 2005, Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri (deceased), a HUJI leader, coordinated activities with the Taliban and Al-Qaida from Waziristan. Kashmiri issued a statement in October 2009 (after he had been reported as deceased) that he was alive and working with Al-Qaida. By 2010, a significant number of HUJI operatives were involved in terrorist operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan”.
Western intelligence officials believe a certain Fazlul Rahman, who signed bin Laden’s February 23, 1998, declaration of holy war on the US on behalf of the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh, is an associate of the now independent group.
For years, terrorist groups such as Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islam (HuJI), Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Ansar Al Islam, Hizbut Tahrir and others have been receiving patronization from Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), while has also been extending patronization and funding to several separatist and terrorist groups inside India, including United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Hizbul Mujahideen etcetera. Bangladesh Nationalist Party has also been maintaining deeper ties with Hefazat-e- Islam (HeI), a Quranic madrasa-based organization that demands transforming a secularist Bangladesh into a caliphate. Under direct patronization of BNP, in 2013 HeI pressed its 13-point demand through a massive rally in Dhaka, which was attended by hundreds and thousands of madrassa teachers and students. The 13-points of the pro-caliphate Islamist group includes:
1. Restore the phrase “Complete faith and trust in the Almighty Allah” in the constitution
2. Pass a law in parliament keeping a provision of the capital punishment of death sentence to prevent defaming Islam
3. Taking measures for stringent punishment of self-declared atheists and bloggers, and anti-Islamists who made derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad. Also taking steps to stop the spread of “propaganda”
4. Stopping infiltration of all “alien-culture”, including “shamelessness” in the name of individual’s freedom of expression, anti-social activities, adultery, free mixing of males and females and candle-lighting. Women must be encouraged to wear hijab and their overall security must be ensured. Stopping harassment of women, open fornication and adultery, sexual harassment, all forms of violence against women and an end to the tradition of dowry
5. Make Islamic education mandatory from primary to higher secondary levels canceling the women policy and anti-religion education policy
6. Officially declare Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslim
7. Stopping erection of sculptures at intersections, schools, colleges and universities across the country
8. Lifting restrictions on prayers for ulema [read radical Islamic militants] in all mosques across the country, including Baitul Mukarram National Mosque
9. Stopping Anti-Islamic content in media
10. Halt to anti-Islam activities by NGOs across the country, including in the Chittagong Hill Tracts; Hefazat fears a “foreign conspiracy” to separate the Chittagong Hill Tracts from Bangladesh and make it a Christian state
11. Stop attacks and extrajudicial killing of the ulema [read radical Islamic militants]
12. Stopping harassment of teachers and students of Qawmi [Koranic] madrassas and ulema
13. Freedom for all arrested ulema and madrassa students and withdrawal of all cases filed against them, compensation for the victims, and bringing the assailants to justice.
The above 13-points pressed by Hefazat-e-Islam resembles that of the Afghan Taliban and members of radical Islamic militancy outfits such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS). The revelations of Western politicians receiving cash from a convicted terrorist leader and supporting an undesignated terrorist organization paint a deeply disturbing picture. The BNP’s history of terrorist ties, its involvement in heinous attacks, and its dangerous agenda to transform Bangladesh into an extremist state cannot be ignored. It is imperative for Western lawmakers and policymakers to recognize these facts and reconsider their support for the BNP, ensuring the preservation of stability, democracy, and secularism in Bangladesh. Failure to act could result in the rise of another Taliban-like regime, with dire consequences for regional security and global counterterrorism efforts.
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