Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has said that he hopes India will ensure the constitution of Bangladesh is upheld and elections are held within the constitutional timeframe of 90 days.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Sajeeb, now staying aboard, also wanted the Awami League to be allowed to campaign and reorganise.聽
Asked what his message to India would be, he said that he would urge Delhi to take a leadership role and ensure the constitution of Bangladesh is upheld, reported the Indian newspaper on Wednesday.
鈥樷�specially this being on India鈥檚 doorstep鈥� I would hope India would ensure that elections are held within the constitutional timeframe of 90 days, that the mob rule is stopped and that the Awami League is allowed to campaign and reorganise,鈥� Sajeeb told the Indian daily.
He said that if that was ensured, he was still confident that they would win the elections.
鈥榃e still remain the most popular party,鈥� he added.
Amid a mass uprising spearheaded by student protesters, Sheikh Hasina resigned as Bangladesh prime minister and fled to India for shelter on August 5, ending her 15-year long regime.
A 17-member interim government led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, meanwhile, was formed on August 8 to run the country.
Since the time she fled Bangladesh, Hasina has been in India.
鈥楽he is waiting to see how the situation unfolds in Bangladesh,鈥� said Sajeeb, adding that 鈥榤ost likely鈥�, she will be in India for the time being.
Admitting that mistakes were made in handling the student protests, Sajeeb Wazed Joy told The Indian Express that the government should have engaged with the protesters from the very beginning and spoken out against the quotas much earlier.
鈥業 believe our government should have spoken out against the quotas and met with the protesters from the beginning instead of leaving it to courts鈥� Our government filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to reduce the quotas. I recommended we take a public stance, stating that the court made a mistake and we don鈥檛 want the quotas. But our government chose not to, expecting the judicial system to handle it,鈥� said Sajeeb, who served as information and communication technology adviser to Hasina and now lives in the United States.
Describing the events of the 24 hours leading up to his mother鈥檚 departure from Bangladesh on August 5, Sajeeb said that even a day before the situation spiraled out of control, neither he nor Hasina anticipated how rapidly it would deteriorate.
鈥楽he had no intention of leaving the country. She was going to resign, submit a resignation to the president, and announce it in a public statement. I believe she was drafting the statement and preparing to record an interview. Everything was planned. In fact, she was about to start recording when the special security said, 鈥楳a鈥檃m, there鈥檚 no time. We have to go now,鈥� he said in a video interview from Washington DC.
鈥業 convinced my mother that no, for your safety you have to leave. If this mob finds you, catches up with you somewhere and there鈥檚 shooting, lots of people will die. Either you鈥檒l get blamed or, if they catch you, they will kill you. So your best option is to leave the country. And I鈥檓 the one who convinced her to leave,鈥� he said.
Asked if he would be travelling to India to meet Hasina, Sajeeb said he would like to, but wasn鈥檛 sure when he would be able to make the trip.