The son of Bangladesh’s ousted dictatorial leader thanked New Delhi on Sunday for “saving his life”, accused caretaker authorities of allowing “mob rule” and warned of chaos if early elections were not held.
Sheikh Hasina, 76, resigned as prime minister on Monday following a student-led revolt and flew by helicopter to her old ally India.
His government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political opponents during his 15-year tenure.
The military announced his resignation and then agreed to students’ demands that Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, lead a caretaker administration tasked with ending the chaos and implementing democratic reforms.
However, Hasina’s son and former government adviser, US-based Sajeeb Wazed Joy, 53, criticised the interim government, saying it was “totally powerless” and comprised of “nominal people”.
“At the moment Bangladesh is ruled by mobocracy,” he told AFP in an interview from Washington.
He pointed to the removal of top officials, including the chief justice, the central bank governor and the police chief, following demands by protesters.
“If tomorrow the crowd says, ‘No, we want to change this person in the interim government’, then he will have to be changed,” he said.
‘Devolving into chaos’
Yunus has said he wants elections “within a few months”, but Wajed has warned of danger if there is any delay.
He said, “It is in their best interest to hold elections … to return a legitimate government that has the legitimacy and true authority of the people.”
“Otherwise, it will just devolve into chaos.”
Hasina won the election in January, but the polls were described as neither free nor fair and were boycotted by genuine rivals as thousands of opposition party members were arrested during the run-up to the polls.
Hasina’s Awami League members, which number hundreds of thousands of supporters, have gone into hiding since she fled. There have been retaliatory attacks against them and party offices have been torched.
But Wazed said the party was vital to the political future of the South Asian nation of about 170 million people.
“We have millions of followers; they’re not going anywhere,” he said.
“You will not be able to establish democracy in Bangladesh without the Awami League. At least half the people of the country will never accept it.”
Former opposition groups such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are rebuilding after years of repression, with the BNP holding a peaceful mass rally in Dhaka from Monday.
“It will be a contest between the BNP and the Awami League,” Wazed said. “We have to work together.”
‘excessive force’
Wajed attempted to put the blame for his mother’s removal from office on others in the government.
“Were mistakes made? Of course,” he said. “These mistakes were made by people at lower levels or in the chain of command … to blame my mother for this is unfortunate.”
While acknowledging that police officers who shot at protesters had gone too far, he argued that there was violence on both sides.
“Some policemen used excessive force, but there were attacks on the police as well – policemen were killed too. The violence was not one-sided,” he said.
“And then as this escalated, protestors began attacking police with firearms and weapons.”
According to the national police chief, more than 450 people were killed in the riots that preceded Hasina’s fall – 42 of them police officers.
Wazed alleged that unidentified foreign forces had supported the protests, though he did not provide any evidence for this.
“I believe at this point in time it is from outside Bangladesh,” he said.
“Only an intelligence agency would have the capability to smuggle and supply weapons to protesters.”
It is not clear what Haseena will do next.
Wazed expressed gratitude to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s government “for saving his life and keeping him safe.”
According to analysts, New Delhi saw a common threat in groups Hasina considered rivals who were crushed with brutal force, including the BNP.
Hasina has been held in a secret safe house and has not spoken in public since arriving at a military airbase near New Delhi.
It is unclear how long she will now stay in India, but Wazed said she has “no plans as of now” to move to a third country.
“My mother never wanted to leave her country – her dream was to retire there,” he said, adding that he spoke to her every day.
“This was going to be her last term. She is 76 years old. So she wants to go back home. We are waiting to see if she will be able to do that.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
