BNP’s Tarique Rahman has no national identity card

BNP’s acting chief Tarique Rahman has no national identity card, according to an investigation by bdnews24.com.

The new findings came amid the debate over the handover of Rahman’s passport to the UK authorities for the sake of political asylum.

“Tarique Rahman has not been included in the voter list with a photograph and has no NID either,” said a former official of the Election Commission.

His mother BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia signed up as a voter on Nov 29, 2008 using the address of her cantonment residence.

In 2007-2008, Bangladesh introduced national ID cards for its citizens.

Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said: “I’m not aware of the issue. I will have to look into this.”

Asked if Tarique Rahman became a voter or received an NID before, BNP leader Mahbubur Rahman said: “Much has been talked about his passport. I knew nothing about it and did not do any research either.”  

Tarique Rahman was in jail at that time. “I’m not sure whether he became a voter or not. We didn’t even try to know that,” the BNP chairperson's media wing member Syrul Kabir Khan told bdnews24.com.     

SM Asaduzzaman who was the director of public relations at the EC Secretariat when the NID with photograph was introduced, confirmed that Rahman did not sign up as a voter at that time. 
 
The voter list with photographs was prepared under the caretaker government when Rahman was in jail. Coming out of prison in 2008, he went to London to seek political asylum.
 
When asked why Rahman was not on the voter list, Asaduzzaman said: “He did not want to become a voter. That’s why, he was not listed.”

He, however, said any eligible citizen has scope to become a voter.

After the new voter list with photographs was introduced, the EC cancelled the previous voter list in 2006. 
 
Asked whether his name was included in the old voter list, the then EC Deputy Secretary Mihir Sarwar Morshed did not confirm it.
 
The then EC Secretary M Humayun Kabir said: “I don’t recall the issue that happened 10 years ago. If anybody sought to be a voter, we accepted the application.” 
 
A Bangladesh court sentenced him to jail in two cases. 
He became the acting chairman of BNP after his mother Khaleda Zia was sentenced to five years in jail in a corruption case.
 
Earlier, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said Rahman surrendered his passport to the UK Home Office which indicates he relinquished his Bangladesh citizenship. 
 
BNP responded to Alam’s claim and said Rahman submitted his passport to the UK Home Office to get political asylum in London, but not to give up Bangladesh citizenship.