Bangladesh’s ‘engineer’ jibe: How Tarique Rahman became a meme after BNP’s election win

Following the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s landslide victory, allies within the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance began referring to BNP chief and newly elected Prime Minister Tarique Rahman as an “engineer,” a term loaded with sarcasm and political accusation.

The label emerged amid claims that the election outcome was “engineered” rather than earned.

The National Citizen Party (NCP), formed during the anti–Sheikh Hasina agitation and now part of the Jamaat-led bloc, has been at the forefront of pushing this narrative.

How the ‘engineer’ label took off online

One of the earliest uses of the term came from NCP leader Nasiruddin Patwary, who posted on Facebook calling Tarique Rahman an “engineer.”

The remark was quickly amplified by party supporters and Jamaat-aligned activists, transforming into a meme-driven campaign.

Social media platforms soon filled with AI-generated images and satirical posts depicting Rahman in an engineer’s hard hat.

On February 17, congratulatory messages addressed to the new prime minister as “Engineer Tarique Rahman” circulated widely, blending humour with political provocation.

A Facebook user wrote, “London theke engineer pass,” loosely translated as “engineer passed from London,” a dig at Rahman’s long exile in the UK and an insinuation that the alleged manipulation was masterminded abroad.

Education becomes part of mockery

The sarcasm also targeted Tarique Rahman’s educational background.

According to his election affidavit, his highest qualification is higher secondary education, or HSC level, as reported by Bangladeshi media, including The Daily Star and The Business Standard.

Posts mocking this detail gained traction, with one user writing that Rahman had become an engineer “without educational qualifications.”

Another popular AI-generated image captioned him as “The man. The myth. The legend. The engineer,” further cementing the label in online discourse.

Allegations of election engineering and rigging

Behind the humour lies a serious political charge.

Leaders from the Jamaat and NCP allege that the BNP manipulated results in the February 12 election.

Reports of large-scale rigging and result tampering have circulated since polling concluded.

NCP leader Asif Mahmud claimed to possess evidence of result manipulation in several Dhaka constituencies, including Dhaka-13, Dhaka-15, Dhaka-17, Dhaka-19 and Dhaka-11.

He alleged that winners were declared before counting was completed and that polling centre data was altered.

These claims were echoed by Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, who said that while voting itself may have been fair, irregularities during counting distorted the final results.

Tarique Rahman responds to ‘engineering’ claims

When asked directly about allegations of engineering the election at a February 14 press conference, Tarique Rahman rejected the charge.

Sitting beside senior BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Rahman said calmly that the party’s only “engineering” was persuading voters to support them.

His response was quickly recycled by supporters and critics alike.

A Facebook post praising his answer described it as a “huge six,” again attaching the now-viral “engineer” tag to the BNP chief.

Jamaat bloc escalates attack

Rather than fading, the rhetoric intensified.

Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair alleged that results were deliberately altered to defeat Jamaat and alliance candidates, even accusing officials within the Election Commission of involvement.

Another Jamaat leader, Hamidur Rahman Azad, claimed that narrow losses and unusual victory margins pointed to systematic manipulation.

Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar went further, linking alleged post-poll violence and intimidation to what he called a flawed and manipulated election.

Nasiruddin Patwary again invoked the “engineer” label, urging continued street protests and accountability for what he described as repression and election fraud.

His original Facebook post congratulating “Engineer Tarique Rahman” reportedly drew hundreds of thousands of reactions.

A political insult-turned-weapon

What began as a sarcastic remark has evolved into a sustained political tool.

Among Jamaat and NCP supporters, “engineer” has become shorthand for alleged electoral manipulation, repeated through memes, jokes and viral posts.

The label now joins a growing list of epithets used against Tarique Rahman as opposition allies continue to challenge the legitimacy of the election and accuse the BNP of sidelining agreed political commitments, including the July Charter.

Debate over who ran the election

Amid the focus on Tarique Rahman, some commentators argue that attention is being misdirected.

Critics point instead to the role of former chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, under whose stewardship the election was conducted with the Awami League excluded.

Veteran journalist Swadesh Roy has argued that the real architect of the electoral process was Yunus, noting that an election excluding a party commanding a significant share of the vote still received Western approval as “inclusive.”