Opinion | Tarique Rahman Effectively Confined to New York: Why Was His Nine-Day US Trip Cut Short to Four?

– Raudra Rudra, political and security analyst.

Even before Tarique Rahman’s US tour began, the most talked about issue was the restrictions placed on his ability to travel outside of New York. It is clear from this brief itinerary that the old immigration restrictions on his entry into the US are still in effect.

Although he had the opportunity to come to New York to focus on the UN program, he has virtually no freedom of movement outside of New York due to US immigration policy.

The US administration may not have directly announced any sanctions, but the fact that the 9-day trip was reduced to 4 days shows how harsh the reality is behind the scenes. The initial plan was to visit the US from September 21 to 29. The list included a visit to San Francisco, meetings with technology figures, and a large gathering with the diaspora. But in the end, that grand plan was completely changed.

According to the current schedule, the US is scheduled to arrive on September 21 and depart for the country on the night of September 25. This means that the San Francisco trip has been completely canceled and the group of entourage has been reduced. Although the government has presented this as a conventional reason such as ‘time management’ and ‘reducing state expenditure’, serious questions have been raised in political circles about the real reason. If reducing expenditure and time was the main goal, then why was such an unplanned and long itinerary created in the first place?

It is now as clear as day that he does not have the courage or the opportunity to go to San Francisco without circumventing the US immigration laws.

A few weeks ago, there were reports that US President Donald Trump was “looking forward” to meeting Tariq, first in a statement by the US ambassador to India and later in a letter. There was also talk of him meeting Boeing Global President Brendan Nelson in New York.

But even if they both get the chance to attend Trump’s dinner, it won’t be a bilateral meeting, but rather a photo session with the US President at most, which happens with everyone else.

Despite the flashy publicity surrounding commercial negotiations with Boeing or attending Donald Trump’s dinner, this truncated schedule proves that the visit has very limited weight in the political arena of US policymakers.

The proposal to spend around 250,000 to 300,000 US dollars, or 30 to 35 million taka in Bangladeshi currency, on the civic reception proposed by the US BNP for Tarique Rahman has raised serious questions. In the view of political analysts, this huge financial scandal is seriously questioning the country’s international image.

Ultimately, the question remains—why was the grand nine-day plan of action shortened to a four-day visit at the last minute? Isn’t there a direct link between the shortening of this visit and the old US immigration restrictions? This dramatic change, hidden behind the government’s elaborate explanation, proves that this visit has failed to achieve any major diplomatic success on the international political stage and has become a short chapter of compliance.