Sajeeb Wazed’s statement: He expressed his concerns on various issues including Yunus’ misrule, militancy, and elections

❐ BD Digest Desk

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina’s son and her ICT advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy was speaking at the launch of a newly published book. In his speech, he discussed in detail the political situation in Bangladesh, student protests, the quota system, the failures of his government, the rise of extremists and the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Regarding the student movement and the quota system, Sajeeb Wazed Joy said, “The student movement demanding the abolition of quotas was not irrational. It was a logical demand. The old quota system was really very archaic and meaningless. However, most people do not know that our government removed those quotas a few years ago.”

The court had originally reinstated it based on a case filed by the families of freedom fighters. Where our government failed was in communication and messaging. We didn’t say anything about it. We left it to the court and it allowed the movement to grow. That was our first failure.

Then the opposition, radical Islamists and even various evil forces jumped in and turned the movement violent. Armed militants attacked the police station. If you listen to my mother’s audio recordings that were presented in court – you will hear the discussion of armed militants attacking the police station. At that point the situation turned violent. Innocent protesters, innocent civilians were injured. All the deaths are tragic. Our government did not want any deaths, but it happened. The violence was started by the militants, not by the government.

The current unelected regime and the release of militants and terrorists

Sajeeb Wazed Joy said, “You have seen in the last one and a half years, an unelected regime has been clinging to power without any mandate. Not only that, but one of the first acts of this regime was to release all convicted terrorists and militants from prison. Many of these released militants were convicted of crimes like the 2016 Holey Artisan sabotage, the murder of bloggers, and the murder of a local US embassy employee. The Awami League government found them, arrested them, tried them, and sentenced them to prison. But Dr. Yunus’ government released them. Why did they do this? Because this regime is supported by Islamists, extremists.

The influence of radical Islamists and the responsibility for violence

The protesters themselves were not Islamists and militants, but Islamists and militants infiltrated the protest rallies. They sabotaged Bangladeshi television and admitted on Facebook that if we had not committed violence, if we had not killed police, if we had not burned various establishments, the revolution would not have succeeded. They said this openly. So the Yunus government is indebted to the Islamists.

The current Yunus regime in Bangladesh is essentially a radical Islamist regime. They blame the violence on mob terrorism. Yunus’ own spokesperson refers to them as a pressure group. In August 2024, the offices of several progressive television channels and news agencies were burned. More recently, the offices of two of the largest dailies, Prothom Alo and the Daily Star, were set on fire.

Murder investigation and impunity

Addressing Yunus Sarkar and his loyalists, Sajeeb Wazed said, “They blame the Awami League. They say the Awami League should be banned because the Awami League killed students. I say this with responsibility, many students and innocent people died in the protests, but many police officers and our party leaders and activists also died.”

The UN report lists 1,400 deaths, but in the UN report, from August 5 to August 15, our government has listed hundreds of deaths in those 10 days when it was not in power and has placed the blame on us. Our government formed a judicial committee to investigate all the killings. Our government has not given anyone immunity. However, the Yunus government issued an ordinance and granted immunity to those responsible for all the sabotage, including the killing of all police officers, the killing of all Awami League workers.

Partisan parliamentary elections and repression

Joy said, there is a de facto ban on the Awami League. Basically, an unwritten ban has been imposed on all progressive parties. This is the election of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. The Jatiya Party is the third largest party in the country. Their offices have been burned. Many of their leaders are now in jail. The houses of many leaders have been burned. They are not allowed to conduct any election activities, to speak in public. Other smaller parties, all progressive parties are being suppressed. This is a completely biased election. This is not really an election at all.

BNP and US intervention

Sajeeb Wazed said, BNP is one of the largest parties in Bangladesh. BNP would have come to power sooner or later. But why is the US embassy and the US State Department highlighting BNP and Tarique Rahman? Tarique Rahman was convicted based on evidence provided by FBI agents. The US has ample evidence to bring corruption and other charges against him. They did not want to do this because they kept it in their hands. BNP strongly opposed this referendum but recently turned around. It weakens the power of the Prime Minister. Tarique Rahman should follow the instructions of the US embassy at this time.

The rise of Jamaat and the misuse of postal voting

Jamaat never had a big vote bank. Jamaat gets a maximum of 5 to 10% of the votes. Banning the Awami League was very important for them during the Jamaat-backed Yunus regime. Surveys say BNP is stuck at 20%. Jamaat is stuck at 15 to 20%. The Yunus regime has allowed postal voting for the first time in the history of Bangladesh. Postal voting is very difficult to verify. Many videos have already been leaked online, of thousands of postal votes – which Jamaat rigged.

Jamaat’s goal is to establish an Islamic caliphate in Bangladesh by introducing Sharia law. The Yunus regime released all militants and terrorists. Al-Qaeda members are continuing their long-term plans. It is very worrying for neighboring country India that Jamaat will spread the influence of external forces. There is also a fear of disrupting the security of India’s eastern border by joining hands with Pakistan.

Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s request to the international community

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said, the international community must now declare this election as influenced, biased and rigged. This is a show election. Awami League has 40% vote bank. We are a freedom fighting party. In the history of Bangladesh, minorities were only safe during the 17 years of Awami League government. I appeal to the international community, with less than 11 days left, if you do not speak out against this election now, then this will be your last chance to stop Jamaat. I thank you all.