Hasina will return once elections are announced, Joy says
NN Online Report:
Sheikh Hasina, who resigned as prime minister and fled to India earlier this month, will return home once Bangladesh’s newly formed interim government decides to hold elections, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy has said.
As attacks on Awami League leaders continue in Bangladesh after the end of Hasina’s regime, Joy told The Times of India on Thursday that he is ready to enter politics. Joy had earlier said he had no intention of joining politics.
Talking to The Times of India over the phone from his residence in Washington, DC, Joy said: “I will do whatever it takes to save the party and its workers. If there is a need for me to join politics, I will not refrain from that. My mother would have retired from politics after the current term. I never had any political ambition and was settled in the US. But the developments in Bangladesh in the past few days show that there is a leadership vacuum. I had to get active for the sake of the party and I am at the forefront now.”
Speaking on the day the interim government led by Nobel Prize winner Dr Muhammad Yunus took charge of Bangladesh, Joy said: “I am sure the Awami League will take part in the election and we might even win. We have the largest supporter base in Bangladesh.”
Claiming his mother has no plan of seeking asylum in any country, he said: “For the time being, she is in India. She will go back to Bangladesh the moment the interim government decides to hold an election in the country. I am thankful to PM Narendra Modi for saving my mother’s life at such short notice.”
On Thursday, Joy’s sister Saima Wazed also made it clear she will continue in her role as the WHO regional director. “Heartbroken with the loss of life in my country Bangladesh that I love. So heartbroken that I cannot see and hug my mother during this difficult time. I remain committed to my role as RD WHO,” she wrote on X. In a later post, she wrote: “To everyone who has shown concern: as much as I would love to see Ma, I don’t want to compromise her whereabouts in any way.”
Joy stressed there was a need for “introspection”. “There definitely were mistakes. When you run a country, a lot of decisions are made every day. Awami League believes in introspection and we were ready for that. But we did not get a chance to do that this time. We never realized the situation would escalate so fast even after accepting their demands,” Joy said.
He also said an alliance of BNP and Jammat will not be able to save the minorities. “If the Awami League is not in power, the eastern border of India will not be secure. If there is an alliance of BNP and Jamaat, that may not be good for India as Jamaat will not refrain from militancy,” Joy said, requesting India to mount pressure on Bangladesh to hold elections soon.