The heir to Bangladesh’s longtime ruling family and a leader of its most powerful political party, Tarique Rahman is set to return home after 17 years in exile and ahead of key elections.Rahman, 60, an aspiring prime minister who has lived in London since he fled Bangladesh in 2008 over what he called a politically motivated persecution, is due to arrive in Dhaka on Thursday.Acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), he is expected to take the reins from his ailing mother, 80-year-old former prime minister Khaleda Zia.Despite years of ill health and imprisonment, Zia vowed in November to campaign in the February 12, 2026 elections.But she was hospitalised soon after that pledge, and she has been in intensive care ever since.The elections will be the first since a mass uprising last year ended the 15-year hardline rule of Sheikh Hasina, who was at odds with the BNP.Since Hasina’s fall from power, Rahman has been acquitted of the most serious charge against him: a life sentence handed down in absentia for a 2004 grenade attack on a Hasina rally. He had denied the charges.BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has promised Rahman will “arrive among us on the soil of Dhaka” on December 25, which he said will be a “fantastic day.”Rahman, often pictured beside his mother on BNP banners, has long been groomed for leadership.In June, he met in London with Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner leading the interim government until the February elections.- Violent politics -Rahman, known in Bangladesh as Tarique Zia, carries a political name that has defined his life.Born in 1967 when the country was still East Pakistan, he was briefly detained as a child during the 1971 independence war. The BNP hails him as “one of the youngest prisoners of war”.His father, Ziaur Rahman, was an army commander.Ziaur Rahman gained influence months after a 1975 coup in which Sheikh Hasina’s father — founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was murdered.That fuelled lifelong tensions between the Zia and Hasina families, dubbed the “Battle of the Begums”– “begum” meaning a powerful woman.Ziaur Rahman was assassinated when his son was 15.The younger Rahman grew up in his mother’s political orbit, as Zia went on to become the country’s first female prime minister, alternating her terms in power with Hasina.Rahman briefly studied international relations at Dhaka University before entering politics at 23, joining the BNP in its fight against military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad, according to his party.- ‘Unnerves many’ -Still, Rahman’s career has been dogged by allegations of nepotism and mismanagement.A 2006 US embassy cable described him as the BNP’s “heir apparent” who “inspires few but unnerves many”.Other cables labelled him a “symbol of kleptocratic government and violent politics” and accused him of being “phenomenally corrupt” — claims he rejected as politically motivated.Rahman was arrested on corruption charges in 2007 and claimed he was tortured in custody.Reports suggested his release was conditional on leaving politics. Freed later that year, he flew to London in 2008 for medical treatment and never returned.After Hasina swept to power in 2008, her government jailed tens of thousands of BNP members.In 2018, Rahman was again sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for allegedly orchestrating the 2004 attack on Hasina’s rally — a case the BNP called a bid to eliminate the Zia dynasty from politics.In Britain, he kept a low profile alongside his wife, a cardiologist, and their daughter.Since Hasina’s ouster, Rahman emerged as an outspoken figure on social media and a rallying point for BNP supporters.

A heady aroma of malt and brewing yeast drifts through Pakistan’s oldest and by far largest brewery, which is gearing up for expansion after getting approval to sell abroad after a nearly 50-year ban.Bottles and cans clatter along the production lines at Murree Brewery, a singular scene in the Muslim-majority country where alcohol is largely banned. But Murree, founded in 1860 to quench the thirst of British soldiers and the colonial community during the Raj, has survived Islamist opposition and strict regulations to become one of Pakistan’s most well-known companies.”It’s a journey of a roller-coaster and resilience,” Isphanyar Bhandara, the third generation of his family to run the business, told AFP in an interview.”Getting permission to export is another happy milestone,” he added. “My grandfather, and late father, tried to get the export licence, but couldn’t get it. Just because, you know, we are an Islamic country.” However, Bhandara said he got “a rude surprise” in 2017 when the Chinese-run Hui Coastal Brewery and Distillery got permission to brew beer in Pakistan, mainly for the thousands of Chinese working on major infrastructure projects in the country.”What happened to all the Islamic lectures?” said Bhandara, who hails from Pakistan’s small but influential Parsi (Zoroastrian) community and is also a lawmaker in the National Assembly.Soon he embarked on the years-long lobbying effort to lift the export ban.- Peculiar profits -Originally housed in the mountains outside Islamabad, Murree’s red-brick facility now sits opposite the army chief’s residence in the capital’s twin city Rawalpindi, one of the most heavily guarded places in the country.Revenue surpassed $100 million in the fiscal year to June, with alcohol sales generating just over half of the total, and non-alcoholic drinks and bottle making accounting for the rest.The performance is all the more remarkable given that alcohol sales to Muslims are forbidden, meaning only religious minorities — numbering around nine million — and foreigners can buy beer or liquor in a few authorised shops or upscale hotels.But that has not stopped millions of Pakistanis from getting their occasional tipple, in a country with a long history of appreciating a fine drink. Its revered founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah was known to enjoy spirits, and the military dictator Pervez Musharraf made no secret of his love of whisky.Even prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who announced the alcohol ban in 1977 in a bid to garner support from right-wing Islamist parties, once told a rally: “Yes, I drink alcohol, but at least I don’t drink the blood of the poor.”These days it’s common for bottles to appear at dinners or parties — there is usually a Christian or Hindu to be found who will buy them for you.”Pakistan’s affair with alcohol is like that of a secret paramour — acknowledged but not talked about extensively,” said Fasi Zaka, a prominent columnist and political commentator. “It’s the tolerable vice — condemned but familiar.”However, many Muslim drinkers obtain alcohol from bootleggers or locally produced moonshine, and every year several people die after consuming methanol-contaminated liquor.”I have to bribe the police and take extra risks, so the price is doubled”, a Christian bootlegger in Islamabad told AFP on condition of anonymity.”The extra charge is to keep everyone happy, whether it’s a Muslim customer or a police officer keeping an eye on me,” he said with a laugh.- Expanding horizons -Before the export ban, Murree had sold its products in neighbouring India and Afghanistan, but also in Gulf countries and as far as the United States.”It sounds very strange or very bizarre today, but we were exporting to Kabul,” where the Taliban now govern with their strict interpretation of Islam, Bhandara said.Murree has already made limited shipments to Japan, Britain and Portugal as it explores distribution channels and strategies. “Right now, the target is not revenue or to make money… the target is to explore new markets”, Bhandara said.The company, which has around 2,200 employees, is looking in particular at Europe, but is also weighing a move into Asian and African markets.Selling abroad could also give Murree a chance to promote its history and brand in ways unimaginable at home.”We are not allowed to advertise, so we keep our heads down — we try to make a good beer with our heads down,” Bhandara said.