Tarique takes over three hours to cover 3.8km to July 36 Expressway

The 3.8-kilometre stretch from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to the 300 Feet area on the July 36 Expressway took BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman more than three hours to cross on Thursday, as thousands lined the route to welcome him home after 17 years.

Tarique Rahman landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight at 11:40am on December 25. He boarded a red-and-green bus in front of the airport at around 12:35pm and reached the public reception stage at the 300 Feet area at 3:50pm. In total, the journey from the airport to the reception venue took approximately three hours and 15 minutes.

Party sources said leaders and activists of the BNP and its affiliated organisations, along with large numbers of supporters, crowded the entire route from the airport. They greeted and congratulated Tarique Rahman, who stood at the front of the bus for most of the journey, waving continuously in response to the cheers. His motorcade moved at a slow pace under tight security, with members of the army and other joint forces deployed along the route.

Earlier in the morning, the aircraft carrying Tarique Rahman, his wife Dr Zobaida Rahman and daughter Zaima Rahman entered Bangladeshi airspace and landed at Sylhet Osmani International Airport at 9:57am. After a brief stopover, the flight arrived in Dhaka at 11:40am.

At the airport, Tarique Rahman was received by senior BNP leaders. He exchanged greetings and embraces with them and waved to those present before leaving the airport premises around 12:30pm.

According to party sources, in an unplanned moment before boarding the bus, Tarique Rahman stepped barefoot onto the soil near the airport. He reportedly entered a nearby flower garden, removed his shoes, touched the ground with his bare feet and picked up a handful of soil, expressing deep emotion upon returning to the country.

Tarique Rahman then boarded the bus at 12:35pm and proceeded to the public reception at the 300 Feet area, accompanied by senior party leaders and members of the BNP standing committee.