BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed on Thursday said a historic reception awaits BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, who will reach Dhaka at 11:55am on December 25.
“Tarique Rahman is scheduled to land at Dhaka airport at 11:55am on December 25 by a regular commercial flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines from London,” he said.
Talking to reporters in front of BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office after visiting Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with the reception committee for Tarique’s return, Salahuddin said people across the country are eager for a glimpse of him, and the BNP is working to ensure the gathering does not cause any public inconvenience.
He said their committee inspected security and logistical arrangements at the airport ahead of the BNP Acting Chairman’s arrival.
Salahuddin said the party is looking for suitable locations near the airport and Evercare Hospital to organise the reception programme.
He said they want to ensure a reception that will surpass all previous gatherings in the last 55 years and will not be forgotten in the next 55 years, marking Tarique’s homecoming.
Upon arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the BNP leader said, Tarique will be taken under tight security by road to Evercare Hospital, where his ailing mother and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is undergoing treatment.
Salahuddin, the convener of the party’s reception committee for Tarique’s homecoming, said, “We, the members of the reception committee, inspected the area where our leader will land. We checked where he will get down, where he will sit, how he will get into his car and which roads his motorcade will take to reach Evercare Hospital and then his residence. We are coordinating everything with the authorities.”
He said Tarique is coming back after 17 years of painful exile.
The BNP leader said the government is cooperating to ensure Tarique’s reception and security.
He said BNP’s security team, led by retired Brigadier General AKM Shamsul Islam, has held several meetings with the heads of relevant government departments over the past few days to finalise the security arrangements.
Salahuddin said BNP leaders and activists from across the country will travel to Dhaka to welcome Tarique.
“We are instructing leaders of BNP and affiliated organisations in every district, upazila and union on how they should arrive in Dhaka on the night of 24 December or by the morning of 25 December. There is huge excitement among people all over the country,” he said.
Reception committee member secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the committee is working full swing under the leadership of Salahuddin Ahmed.
He said Tarique’s arrival will draw a ‘historic crowd’, and they are working day and night to make the gathering historic and memorable.
Meanwhile, BNP has written to Bangladesh Railway authorities requesting to reserve trains on different routes on the night of 24 December to facilitate the arrival of leaders and activists in Dhaka.