Washington: After the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) claimed a decisive victory in the Bangladesh national elections with party chief Tarique Rahman poised to become the country’s prime minister, the United States has made a dramatic U-turn on its views on him.
What was once a critical US view of Tarique Rahman — rooted in leaked diplomatic assessments labelling him a corruption symbol — has now shifted to one of formal recognition. Besides India and Pakistan, the United States has also congratulated Rahman. The United States Embassy in Dhaka offered its congratulations to Rahman and the BNP, according to a WION report.
“Congratulations to the people of Bangladesh on a successful election and to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Tarique Rahman on your historic victory,” the statement reads. “The United States looks forward to working with you to realise shared goals of prosperity and security,” it adds.
Two decades ago, US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks, as reported by Hindustan Times, portrayed Tarique Rahman — then a powerful figure in his mother, Khaleeda Zia’s government — as a “symbol of kleptocratic government and violent politics.” US diplomats described him as “phenomenally corrupt” and alleged that he was involved in influencing government contracts, notably around the controversial procurement of electric poles that never delivered power infrastructure.
According to a report published by bdnews24.com, a set of leaked confidential cables from the US embassy in Dhaka to the State Department on Nov 3, 2008— authored by then-ambassador James F Moriarty—had recommended a ban on entry into USA of Tarique Rahman, the then BNP senior vice-chairman.
“The Embassy believes Tarique 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 cable marked ‘confidential’ read, as per the bdnews24.com report.
However, the report claims that the embassy had not placed a similar ban on Tarique Rahman’s wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, their daughter, Zaima, or Khaleda Zia, by then a former Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
In the late 2000s, when Khaleda Zia served her third term as PM, Tarique Rahmana, was reportedly seen by US diplomats as the architect of a “parallel administration” that operated out of Hawa Bhaban, the headquarters of the BNP in Dhaka.
The leaked cables had also labelled him a “symbol of kleptocratic government” who was notorious for “flagrantly and frequently demanding bribes”. “For the US State Department of the era, Rahman represented the very “hereditary privilege” and systemic graft that the 2024 July protest against Sheikh Hasina…” reads a Hindustan Times report.
In a confidential 2008 cable titled ‘Khaleda Zia Consolidates Leadership and BNP Adjusts to Life After Tarique Rahman’, the US ambassador reportedly stated: “It is in our interest that the latter [Tarique’s return to power] not happen.”
