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New Delhi: After former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity over her crackdown on student-led protests that led to her ousting, her son Sajeeb Wazed on Thursday said that whatever is happening in the nation is “Jamaat’s revenge,” adding that Jamaat-e-Islami never wanted Bangladesh to be independent from Pakistan. He further said that Jamaat is now trying to come to power with Muhammad Yunus and turn Bangladesh into an extension of Pakistan. Speaking to IANS, Sajeeb Wazed said, “Whatever is happening is not good for Bangladesh. Of course, this is political revenge. Yunus is backed by Jamaat-e-Islami, who killed 3 million of our people during the War of Independence. Our government finally held trials for those crimes. This is Jamaat’s revenge, and Jamaat never wanted Bangladesh to be independent from Pakistan. Now, Jamaat is trying to come to power with Yunus and make Bangladesh an extension of Pakistan.” He also reacted to questions on how Pakistan is influencing decisions in the Bangladesh government led by Yunus. “Pakistan is influencing this government completely. This regime has been helped by Pakistan from the very beginning. Pakistan was involved in protests against my mother. As you have seen, this government is fostering very close ties with Pakistan and letting Pakistani organisations have a free hand in Bangladesh. Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders have been to Bangladesh, speaking publicly, and have taken credit for the recent bomb attack in New Delhi. So, Bangladesh under Yunus is acting as an extension of Pakistan and a terrorist haven,” he said. Responding to whether Awami League members and leaders have been subjected to abject torture under the Yunus-led government, he said, “Yes, we have tens of thousands of our leaders and activists behind bars. We have 100 Members of Parliament who are behind bars. There have been no trials and no investigations. They have no charges but have been denied bail again and again. They are political prisoners. But our party is very big. You can’t arrest everybody, as there is no space in prisons.” On whether Sheikh Hasina will be able to return to Bangladesh, Wazed expressed confidence. “Absolutely, I am confident that she will return to Bangladesh in the future. She is the daughter of Bangladesh. Our party is the largest. We are not going anywhere. We have millions of supporters,” he said. He also reacted to questions on whether the developments are linked to the coming elections in Bangladesh. “Of course. They have convicted my mother and amended laws so that anyone charged with these offences cannot participate in elections, which is a total violation of due process. You can’t ban someone until they have been convicted, which is why they had to rush the conviction. They have also banned our Awami League from the elections, which is the oldest and largest political party. They have completely banned us. We have almost half of the voters in the country, and now they have no one to vote for. They cannot vote for the party. But they are going ahead with the election,” he told IANS. “Not only the Awami League, but they have also partially banned the Jatiya Party. They have de facto banned all secular parties. They have only allowed Right-wing parties in the election. The whole situation is a charade to instal a handpicked government in Bangladesh under the guise of democracy,” he added. IANS |
