Washington DC [US]: Son of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sajeeb Wazed Joy has expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his government’s quick action following the developments in the neighbouring country which led to her departure.
Sheikh Hasina’s son also dismissed media reports of a revocation of her visa stating that no one has revoked the visa of the Awami League leader and neither has she applied for political asylum anywhere.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Wazed said “No one has revoked her visa. She has not applied for political asylum anywhere. Those are all rumors.”
He also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for saving Sheikh Hasina’s life.
“My message to the government of India, is my personal gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for his government’s quick action in saving my mother’s life. I am eternally grateful,” he said.
“India needs to take a leadership role in the world, and not let other foreign powers dictate the situation. Because this is India’s neighbourhood. This is India’s eastern side,” he said.
Wazed pointed out that during Hasina’s regime, the Bangladesh grew economically and was at peace. “No one can deny that Sheikh Hasina’s government kept peace in Bangladesh, kept economic growth, stopped insurgency and kept the eastern side of our subcontinent stable. We are the only government that has proven we can do it. Other governments have tried. They have failed,” he said.
Wazed termed the new government was unconstitutional because the Bangladeshi constitution states that a non-elected government cannot remain in power.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy said that while he has no evidence of direct US involvement in the student protests in the country, the support for Muhammad Yunus–whom he describes as a “darling of the west”–indicates possible foreign influence.
Wazed added that the West has long championed Yunus, who was appointed as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government on August 8, and was quick to support his government, leading him to believe that foreign involvement in the unrest is evident.
Wazed said, “Was the US directly involved? I don’t know. I have no evidence. But if you look at the situation and the protests, you see the protests were incited and inflamed every step of the way.”
He pointed out that the protests were initially peaceful and not directed against the government but rather against a court ruling, which the government also opposed.
“When the protests first started, they were peaceful. Our police were guarding them. The protest wasn’t against the government’s action. Our government had reduced quotas years ago after the first round of protests against quotas. The quotas were reinstated by the courts, and our government had filed an appeal against that. We were waiting for the Supreme Court to hear it,” he explained.
Wazed said that he believes a foreign supplier provided firearms to the protesters.