Sheikh Hasina's Son Says She Will Return To Bangladesh After Election Announcement, Thanks PM Modi For Saving His Mother's Life

With ongoing attacks on Awami League leaders in Bangladesh, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has announced his readiness to enter politics.

This marks a shift from his previous stance, where he had expressed no intention of joining the political arena.

“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," Joy was quoted as saying by Times of India.

"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," he added.

Joy’s remarks followed the release of Khaleda Zia from house arrest and the impending return of her son, Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), to Dhaka.

On Thursday (8 August), an interim government led by Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus took charge in Bangladesh. The interim government will oversee the affairs of the country until elections are held.

Joy expressed confidence that the Awami League will take part and possibly win in the election as his mother's party has "the largest supporter base in Bangladesh”.

He also clarified that his mother has no plans to seek asylum abroad.

“For the time being, she is in India. She will go back to Bangladesh the moment the interim govt 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," he added.

Stressing on the need for "introspection", Joy said, “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 realised the situation would escalate so fast even after accepting their demands.

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