Passports of BNP leader Tarique Rahman and his family members were send to the Bangladesh mission through the UK authorities, reiterates State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam.
Speaking to the media at his Dhaka home, he shared a copy of the UK Home office’s forwarding letter to back up his claim.
“On Jun 2, 2014, the passports of Tarique Rahman and his family were sent to the Bangladesh High Commission in London through the UK home ministry,” said Alam. “They have no travel documents for coming back to the country.”
Tarique’s passport was issued on Sept 4, 2008 and three days later, on Sept 8, a UK visa was issued against it, said the state minister before adding the BNP leader entered the UK on Sept 12 with six-month visa.
“Tarique Rahman has surrendered his passport to the UK home office as it’s useless for him.”
Asked whether handing over passports constitutes to denouncing citizenship, he replied, “As a politician, I think so. Your passport is your identity, when you are abroad. By handing over it, you are not claiming it anymore.”
“I think he (Tarique Rahman) is not a Bangladeshi citizen anymore.”
He, however, failed to come up with an answer when asked whether the citizenship of a person who is by birth a Bangladeshi can be scrapped.
He said the authorities will follow the laws in case Tarique Rahman files for renewal of his passport.
“Let them (BNP) make it clear, what is Tarique Rahman’s status in the UK. They claim he is there for treatment, which seems funny. His movement has been limited after we complained to the UK government,” said State Minister Alam.
The Bangladesh government is maintaining pressure on the UK over the issue, he said adding, “Responding to our queries on the issue, the UK government told us they cannot share any information as their law considers is to be confidential.”
Soon after the media call, Alam shared the forwarding letter and pages of Tarique Rahman’s passports on the social media.
He wrote on a Facebook post that these were the evidences of his statement, in a clear reference to the BNP, who earlier in the day called the Alam to back his claims with official documents.

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