Dhaka, Jan 22 (NationPress) The Bangladesh Awami League cautioned on Thursday about a troubling political trend in the country, with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman being celebrated and positioned as a potential future leader. This situation raises alarming questions regarding the erasure of the nation’s historical truths and the failure of collective memory.

“The crimes, corruption, and state capture during the 2001–2006 era are being intentionally overlooked, downplayed, or conveniently forgotten. This collective amnesia poses a significant threat. The actions of Tarique Rahman during that time were not just footnotes in history; they marked one of the darkest periods of institutional failure in Bangladesh,” asserted the Awami League.

The Awami League highlighted that Hawa Bhaban, the political office of the former BNP Chief Khaleda Zia, transformed from an ordinary residence into an extraordinary hub of illicit power during the BNP regime from 2001 to 2006.

“Hawa Bhaban did not merely influence governance; it overshadowed even the Prime Minister’s Office. Decisions regarding policies, projects, appointments, promotions, tenders, and business approvals were all orchestrated there. The elected government became secondary, while the Constitution itself lost its relevance. The true state operated behind closed doors, under the control of one unelected individual,” they stated.

The party emphasized that what functioned from Hawa Bhaban was not random corruption but an intricate system — a fixed, ruthless formula. During the BNP's tenure from 2001 to 2006, a mandatory 10 percent commission became the de facto tax on every government development project.

“This was not mere gossip or an exception; it was thoroughly documented, openly discussed, and strictly enforced. No commission, no work,” the Awami League insisted.

At the heart of this alleged system, the Awami League claimed, was Tarique, whose longstanding pattern of extortion earned him the notorious moniker — ‘Mr Ten Percent’.

“A man who institutionalized bribery, monetized development, and transformed governance into a commission-driven enterprise is being rebranded as a leader. But history is relentless. The legacy of the 10 percent empire remains irrefutable evidence that Tarique Rahman did not serve the state; he commodified it,” the party noted.

The Awami League contended that Tarique’s identity is intertwined with numerous corruption and criminal cases stemming from the 2001–2006 period — cases arising from a framework of parallel governance, commission-based decision-making, and sheltered criminal networks.

They asserted that these were not isolated claims; rather, the cases illustrated a consistent pattern that characterized an entire era.

“A widely recognized corrupt figure cannot embody national integrity. No amount of rebranding can erase the legacy of Hawa Bhaban. Bangladesh requires leadership grounded in integrity, not a revival of a culture that transformed the state into a commercial venture,” the Awami League concluded.