He expressed gratitude to PM Modi and his government for protecting his mother
Calcutta:
Sheikh Hasina, who stepped down as prime minister and fled Bangladesh, will be back in the country as soon as democracy is restored, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said on Thursday and blamed Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI for fuel the ongoing unrest in the country.
In an interview with PTI, Joy said that although 76-year-old Sheikh Hasina would return to Bangladesh, it is yet to be decided whether she will return as a “retired or active” politician.
He also stated that members of the Sheikh Mujib (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) family will not abandon their people nor leave the beleaguered Awami League in trouble.
He expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for protecting his mother and called on India to help build international opinion and exert pressure to restore democracy in Bangladesh.
“Yes, it is true that I said that she would not return to Bangladesh. But a lot has changed in the last two days, following continuous attacks on our leaders and party workers across the country. Now we will do whatever it takes to maintain our safe people; we won’t leave them alone.”
“The Awami League is the oldest and largest political party in Bangladesh, so we cannot simply turn away from our people. She will definitely return to Bangladesh once democracy is restored,” he told PTI over phone.
Terming the Awami League as an “all-weather ally of India”, he said India must ensure the safety of Awami League leaders in Bangladesh by increasing international pressure.
Joy also urged the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, to restore law and order, noting that “the country is turning into a state of anarchy and becoming a second Afghanistan in the region.” He said he also hopes the interim government will create a level playing field whenever democracy is restored and new elections are held.
“You cannot exclude the Awami League and have a representative democracy in Bangladesh. Whatever your (Mohammed Yunus) personal views are, he has said he wants a unity government and wants to move forward and not let the mistakes of the past cloud over the future. I hope he keeps his word,” he said.
Professor Yunus was sworn in as head of Bangladesh’s interim government on Thursday and received the oath of office from President Mohammed Shahabuddin at a ceremony in Dhaka.
Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country after violent protests against her government over a controversial employment quota system. She flew to Hindon airbase near Delhi on a Bangladeshi military plane on Monday.
Joy mentioned that once democracy is restored, either the Awami League or the BNP will come to power, and the “Mujib family and Sheikh Hasina will be around”. “She has been in touch with all our party leaders over the last two days. My mother was going to retire soon, so we thought that now that she was gone, they (rioters) would leave our party people alone, but that didn’t happen. to happen. Instead, they started attacking,” he said.
Refusing to comment directly on whether he and his sister Saima Wazed, who is currently the World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia regional director, would enter politics, Joy said he would do whatever was necessary to protect Bangladesh from total anarchy.
“I cannot give a definitive answer to this question. But I will do whatever it takes to save Bangladesh and protect the Awami League. The Mujib family would not leave them in the lurch,” said Joy, former head of Information and Communications Technology. Hasina’s advisor.
Blaming Pakistan for fueling unrest in Bangladesh, Joy said there is circumstantial evidence suggesting foreign interference and alleged involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
“I am almost certain, given the circumstantial evidence; I suspect Pakistan’s ISI involvement. The attacks and protests were very coordinated, meticulously planned and were intentional efforts to continue to inflame the situation through social media. No matter what the government did to control the situation, they kept trying to make the situation worse,” he said.
He also highlighted that protesters attacked police with weapons that could only be provided by terrorist groups and foreign powers.
Regarding reports of involvement by a US intelligence agency like the CIA, Joy said he had no proof, but added: “maybe there is.” He ruled out any Chinese involvement when asked about it.
Dismissing reports of Hasina seeking asylum in the UK or any other country as “rumors”, Joy said reports that her US visa has been revoked are also false.
“Nothing of this kind was planned (asylum seeking). Sooner or later, there has to be a restoration of democracy in Bangladesh and hopefully that will be between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League. So Sheikh Hasina will be back.” “Right now, she wants to go back to Bangladesh. It’s a question of when and not if,” he said, hinting that Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister will stay in an undisclosed location in India for now.
Joy, who spent much of her childhood studying in India, called on the Indian government to ensure the speedy restoration of democracy for stability in the region.
“I want to thank the Indian government for protecting my mother. I owe my sincere gratitude to Prime Minister Modi. If India wants stability in its eastern backyard, then it will have to put pressure on the international community and take the lead to ensure the speedy restoration of democracy,” he said.
Talking about the ‘INDIA-out’ campaign in Bangladesh, he said, “the anti-India forces are already very active, and with the Awami League out of power, the ISI is now free to supply as many weapons as it wants to the anti-India” . -Indian Forces.” Joy said India must act quickly before anti-India forces gain more ground.
Refuting allegations that Hasina fled for her life, he said the family insisted on stopping the bloodshed.
“She was not willing to leave the country. The Prime Minister’s security was ready to protect her until the end. But this would have led to hundreds of deaths of protesters marching towards the Prime Minister’s residence. We convinced her for the sake of Bangladesh, we cannot let her be killed,” he said.
“Our government was not weak, but my mother did not want to harm the students. Even after she left the country, the bloodshed did not stop. People will now understand the difference with and without Sheikh Hasina,” he said.
The death toll from anti-government protests in Bangladesh rose to 440 on Wednesday, with the recovery of a further 29 bodies of members of Hasina’s Awami League party across the country by Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 469 in almost three weeks since the protests. began in July,”Asatya Not J: When Amit Shah helped Kiren Rijiju in Parliament,
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