Expelled PM will return to Bangladesh, says son

Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, will return to the country when elections are announced, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said.

Ms. Hasina, who resigned and fled this week following major unrest, is in India.

Bangladeshi media say more than 500 people have been killed in weeks of protests against Ms Hasina. Many of them were shot by the police.

Thousands were injured in the worst violence Bangladesh has seen since its independence war in 1971.

“Of course, he will come [to Bangladesh],” Mr Wazed told the BBC, saying his mother would return when the interim government decided to hold the vote.

A military-backed interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was sworn in on Thursday along with 16 advisers.

Two of the leaders of the student protest are among the advisors.

Mr. Wazed is an IT professional living in the US.

He served as Ms Hasina’s IT advisor for several years when she was prime minister from 2009 to 2024.

“He will definitely go back,” said his son.

“Whether he returns to politics or not, that decision has not been taken yet. He is tired of the way he has been treated.”

The student-led movement started as a protest against the number of civil service jobs last month before there was an uproar to oust Mrs Hasina from office following a brutal police attack.

Mr. Joy is confident that when the vote comes, the Awami League, which is Ms. Hasina’s party, will emerge victorious.

“I am sure that if you have an election in Bangladesh today, and if it is free and fair and if there is a level playing field, the Awami League will win,” he said.

Ms. Hasina became the prime minister a fourth consecutive term in a controversial election held in January 2024.

The main opposition parties boycotted the election saying that under Ms Hasina’s government there will not be “any free and fair election”.

His son called the interim government unconstitutional and said elections should be held within 90 days.

However, he had doubts about his political ambitions or whether he would return to the country to represent the leadership of the Awami League, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, and Ms Hasina. .

“No decision has been taken regarding this. I have never had any political ambitions,” he said.

But he added that he was saddened by the way protesters had broken into and set fire to their ancestral homes, including a museum dedicated to his grandfather in Dhaka.

“Under these circumstances, I am very angry, I will do whatever it takes,” he said.

He says he is in contact with fans of the club who are saddened and very upset by what happened in the last few weeks.

“If 40,000 or more protesters can force the government to resign, what if the protests are held by the Awami League, which has millions of supporters?” he asserts.

Ms. Hasina and her sister (Rehana Siddiq) have been under house arrest in Delhi since Monday.

India has been a staunch supporter of the Bangladeshi leader.

There have been reports that he is trying to seek asylum in the UK, the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.

“Those questions about his visa and asylum, they are all rumours,” his son said.

“He is not included anywhere. He is always watching how the situation continues in Bangladesh.

“His main goal is to return home to Bangladesh.”

When asked about the documented human rights violations and extrajudicial killings during his mother’s 15-year tenure, he says that other mistakes were made.

“Yes, there were people in our government who made mistakes, but we always righted the ship,” he adds.

“We had one minister’s son, who was a member of the special police. He was arrested for extrajudicial killings. That never happened.”

“My mother tried to do the right thing about being arrested,” her son insisted.