Awami League made mistakes in handling of student protests, says Joy

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, says the Awami League government made mistakes in its handling of the quota reform protest movement.

 “I believe our government should have spoken out against the quotas and met with the protesters from the beginning instead of leaving it to the courts,” Joy said in an interview with the Indian publication from Washington, DC on Wednesday.

 “Our government filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to reduce the quotas. I recommended we take a public stance, stating the court made a mistake and we don’t want the quotas. But our government chose not to, expecting the judicial system to handle it.”

However, Joy, who acted as ICT advisor to his mother’s government, says that a foreign power was behind the violent turn the protests took, the Indian Express reports.

“I firmly believe that a foreign intelligence agency was involved, especially because many of the demonstrators, starting from Jul 15, were armed with firearms. Firearms are very difficult to obtain in Bangladesh due to our successful control of militancy over the last 15 years.”

 “The only organisation capable of smuggling firearms into the country and supplying them to demonstrators would be a foreign intelligence agency.”

He also spoke of the events of Aug 5, when Hasina resigned her premiership and fled the country.

Joy said neither he nor Hasina expected the situation to veer out of control so quickly.

 “She had no intention of leaving the country. She was going to resign, submit a resignation to the president, and announce it in a public statement. I believe she was drafting the statement and preparing to record an interview. Everything was planned. In fact, she was about to start recording when the special security said, ‘Ma’am, there’s no time. We have to go now’.”

Hasina had stood firm on her decision to remain in the country, but he said he convinced her to leave.

 “The special security force took her to a safe location inside the military air base, they had a helicopter ready for her, but she did not wish to go… that’s when my aunt (Sheikh Rehana Siddiq) called me. I convinced my mother that no, for your safety you have to leave. If this mob finds you, catches up with you somewhere and there’s a shooting, lots of people will die. Either you’ll get blamed or, if they catch you, they will kill you. So your best option is to leave the country. And I’m the one who convinced her to leave.”

Hasina has been in India since leaving Bangladesh. She is likely to remain there for the time being and is waiting to see how the situation unfolds in Bangladesh, Joy said.

He thanked the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for responding so quickly to his mother’s request and her relocation to a secure location. However, he denied reports that Hasina had sought asylum elsewhere.

 “You know, all those questions that have been asked about her applying for asylum in various countries, those are all rumours. They’re completely untrue. She has not applied for asylum anywhere.”

Joy told the Indian Express that he is still confident that if the Awami League is allowed to campaign and reorganise, he is confident they would still win elections.