Virginia [US], November 19 : After the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was convicted of "crimes against humanity" in Bangladesh and sentenced to death, her son, Sajeeb Wazed, has questioned the "legitimacy" of Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Dhaka, which has been holding on to power without elections and "zero popular support".
Speaking to ANI, Wazed argued that a leader with public support would not avoid elections.
"... If Muhammad Yunus was popular, then why would he not have just held an election and then run the country with legitimacy. He has held on to power for a year and a half without holding an election because he has absolutely zero popular support. The political party the students formed, the NCP (National Citizen Party), is polling at 2% in all the polls run in Bangladesh. They've never gone above 2% popularity. Yunus and the student party have almost no popularity, so they've held on to power without an election...," he said.
Wazed accused Dhaka of shifting Bangladesh's foreign policy sharply towards China.
"Our government's policy was to have friendly relations with all countries. We pursued trade relations with China, India and the US... The Yunus regime has been trying to get much closer to China. They've had prominent state visits to China. Even our opposition, BNP, has been making direct overtures to China... For us, the Belt and Road Initiative was simply an economic initiative to facilitate transportation..."
Speaking about the recent verdict in which a Bangladeshi court convicted Sheikh Hasina, Wazed claimed the process was politically motivated and undemocratic.
"There was some mishandling of the protests initially. The protests turned violent. Our government tried to stop the protests. There was certainly political motivation to it. There has been an unelected government in power for the last 1.5 years. Everything has been done undemocratically. ...tens and thousands of political prisoners... currently over 100 Members of Parliament are held as political prisoners with no investigation or trials. At this point, it is definitely a political coup..."
On November 17, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal convicted the 78-year-old former prime minister of "crimes against humanity" linked to the July-August 2024 uprising. The tribunal found Hasina and two senior officials guilty of ordering or enabling atrocities during the protests. According to a UN human rights report released in February, nearly 1,400 people were killed in just 46 days of the Bangladesh protests.
The protests that eventually ousted Bangladesh's longest-serving Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, began in early July and were led by student groups.
As demonstrations intensified, large crowds of student protesters stormed Hasina's official residence in Dhaka amid reports of widespread looting and violent clashes. These scenes unfolded after weeks of anti-government unrest, which ultimately pushed Hasina to resign and flee the country, seeking exile in India.
Earlier this week, local media reported that the tribunal delivered the verdict in absentia, as Hasina has been living in India since the fall of her government.
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