Deposed PM to return to Bangladesh, says son

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will return to the country when elections are called, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy says.

Ms Hasina, who resigned and fled the country earlier this week following a massive uprising, is currently in India.

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

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

“Certainly, it will come. [to Bangladesh],” Mr Wazed told the BBC, saying his mother would return when and if the interim government decides to hold polls.

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

Among the councilors there are also two leaders of the student protest.

Mr. Wazed is an IT expert now living in the United States.

He worked as an IT adviser to Mrs Hasina for several years during her tenure as prime minister, from 2009 to 2024.

“He will definitely come back,” says the son.

“Whether she returns to politics or not, that decision has not been made yet. She is quite fed up with how she has been treated.”

The student-led movement began last month as a protest against quotas for civil service jobs, before morphing into a mass uprising to oust Ms Hasina following a brutal police crackdown.

Mr Joy is confident that when the elections come, Ms Hasina’s Awami League party will emerge victorious.

“I am convinced that if there is a free and fair election in Bangladesh today and if there is a level playing field, then the Awami League will win,” he says.

Mrs Hasina became prime minister for a fourth consecutive term in a disputed election held in January 2024.

The main opposition parties boycotted the elections, saying that “free and fair elections” could not be held under Ms Hasina’s rule.

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

However, he was a little cautious about his political ambitions and whether he would return to the country to run for the leadership of the Awami League, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader, and Mrs Hasina.

“No decision has been made on this matter. I have never had any political ambitions,” he says.

But he added that he was shocked by the way protesters had looted and burned their ancestral homes, including the museum dedicated to his grandfather in Dhaka.

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

He says he is in contact with party supporters who are very upset and outraged by what has happened in recent weeks.

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

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

India has been a great supporter of the Bengali leader.

There are reports that he is seeking asylum in the UK, the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.

“Those questions about his visa and asylum are all rumors,” his son says.

“He hasn’t applied anywhere. For now, he’s staying here, watching how the situation in Bangladesh develops.

“His ultimate goal is always to return home to Bangladesh.”

Asked about the human rights violations and widely documented extrajudicial killings that occurred during his mother’s 15-year tenure, he says some mistakes were made.

“Of course, there have been individuals in our government who have made mistakes, but we have always righted the course,” he added.

“We had a minister’s son, who was a member of the special police force. He is in prison, convicted of extrajudicial killings. It is unprecedented.”

“My mother tried to do the right thing in terms of arrests,” her son insists.