There’s little extraordinary about Hawa Bhaban, where Tarek Rahman resides. It’s a nondescript two-storey building located in Dhaka’s posh residential quarters of Banani. And yet Hawa Bhaban invariably surfaces in discussions in drawing rooms, in restaurants, at public places of any importance.
Even the media has started to openly talk of the enormous clout Hawa Bhaban has over the government. Last week, for instance, the daily Janakantha reported on Hawa Bhaban’s interference in deciding the name of the new cabinet secretary, the country’s highest-ranking bureaucrat.
"You can’t do any business without giving a share to Hawa Bhaban," thundered ex-PM Sheikh Hasina at a recent public meeting. Sensing the...
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