Bangladesh unrest: Sheikh Hasina will return when caretaker govt decides to hold elections, says son Sajeeb Wazed Joy

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will return to her country when its new caretaker government decides to hold elections, her son has said. 

Hasina fled to India on Monday after weeks of deadly protests forced her to quit. The former Bangladesh PM, who is currently in India, “will be back once democracy is restored”, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy told PTI. 

“A lot has changed in the last two days following continuous attacks on our leaders and party workers across the country. Now we are going to do whatever it takes to keep our people safe; we are not going to leave them alone. Awami League is the largest and oldest political party in Bangladesh, so we cannot just walk away from our people. She will definitely return to Bangladesh once democracy is restored," he told PTI. 

Joy also alleged that Pakistan’s ISI is fuelling unrest in Bangladesh. He added that the Indian government must “build up international pressure” for swift restoration of democracy in Bangladesh. 

Earlier, he had announced that his mother will not return to politics. “So disappointed that after all her hard work, for a minority to rise up against her,” he told BBC. Joy also defended Hasina’s tenure as the Bangladesh PM saying that she took over the country when it was a failing state and turned it around. 

He did not specify whether Hasina, 76, will contest elections. “I never had any political ambition and was settled in the US. But the developments in the Bangladesh in the past few days show that there is a leadership vacuum. I had to get active for the sake of the party,” he told Reuters. 

Hasina’s Awami League party does not feature in the interim government. A caretaker government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8, which will be tasked with holding elections.