The former high commissioner to Malaysia said he was now free to return home, thanks to the street protests that brought down the Sheikh Hasina government in August,
Khairuzzaman, who claimed to have been targeted by the deposed regime on trumped up charges, said it was a dream come true for him and his family to be able to lead their lives as normal Bangladeshi citizens without fear.
He left Kuala Lumpur for Dhaka on Nov 27 accompanied by his wife, Rieta Rahman, and son, Aayihim R Zaman, who were forced to move to the US in 2019, while another son moved to Finland for security reasons.
They have been unable to see Khairuzzaman since then.
Speaking to FMT before his departure, the 73-year-old former diplomat thanked the Malaysian government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for saving his life.
“I was the high commissioner here from 2007 until Sheikh Hasina’s government came to power in 2009. I was summoned back immediately, but I knew I would disappear once I was there as they made wild accusations against me despite the courts having thrown out my cases.
“That’s how the regime operated. So, I declared to the UNHCR that my life is in danger if I were to return to Dhaka. I then officially became a UNHCR cardholder,” he said.
Khairuzzaman said the Bangladeshi government tried to use diplomatic channels to extradite him in February 2022, after which the Malaysian immigration department arrested him despite his refugee status.
However, his lawyers went to the courts with a habeas corpus application and managed to get an injunction to stop his extradition to Bangladesh.
The court action, aided by pressure from UNHCR and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), helped free him from detention.
“I was treated badly for the first two days at the detention centre as I was put together with about 20 undocumented migrants with little space to sleep and without a blanket in a cold room.
“But they realised I was an ex-envoy after two days, and I was given a single room with a blanket. It was a demeaning experience, but I have forgiven the officers as they were not properly informed about my case,” he said.
Khairuzzaman said the Bangladesh government then tried to influence the Malaysian authorities by alleging that he had accumulated a huge sum of money while serving as the head of the Bangladeshi mission in Kuala Lumpur.
“Can you imagine… After 14 years, they suddenly came up with these accusations to try and hoodwink the Malaysian authorities to send me back. But Malaysia did not buy their story,” he said.
Rieta said her elder son Rehmanuzzaman, who was engaged in an IT business in Dhaka, was also harassed and victimised by Bangladeshi authorities while they were after his father here.
Rehmanuzzaman left for Finland after sustained efforts to disrupt his business and career in Bangladesh.
Rieta said her family went through a harrowing 15 years having to put up with the torture of not knowing what could happen to her husband next.
She said it was especially worrying knowing how political rivals in Bangladesh have disappeared suddenly without a trace.
While she expected the family’s efforts to reacclimate to local conditions there to be a little tough, Rieta said being home after 15 years of uncertainty is all that matters now.
“The trauma will always affect me and my family, but I guess we have to fight to put things right,” she said. “I will continue with my political activities to right the wrongs as the current caretaker government seems to be on the correct track.”