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Since early July, Sheikh Hasina had sought to quell nationwide protests against her government. (AFP)
In a video interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Joy was asked about Hasina’s reported plans to seek asylum in a third country
Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister who fled to India following mass protests against her government, is planning to stay in Delhi “for a little while,” her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said on Wednesday.
Hasina, the 76-year-old Awami League leader, landed at an airbase near Delhi on Monday and later shifted to a safe location in Delhi under tight security. She is accompanied by her sister Sheikh Rehana.
In a video interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Joy was asked about Hasina’s reported plans to seek asylum in a third country. “These are all rumours. She has not made a decision on that yet. She is going to stay in Delhi for a little while. My sister is with her. So she is not alone,” Joy said.
Hasina’s daughter Saima Wazed is World Health Organisation’s Regional Director for the South-East Asia Region, which has its headquarters in New Delhi. Hasina’s plan to travel to London has hit a roadblock following the UK’s hesitation to provide her refuge. Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddiq is a member of the British Parliament.
Joy, who spoke on the current volatile situation in Bangladesh, was also asked if he has any plan to join politics when he laughed it off saying: “There is no such plan right now. This is the third time a coup d’état was staged against our family.” All his family members, except Hasina, were already staying abroad for a long time and settled in their respective lives, he said and answered in negative to Sheikh Rehana and or any other family member’s chance of joining politics.
Bangladesh’s protest leaders said they expect members of an interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, to be finalised on Wednesday after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled to India following a violent crackdown on a student-led uprising.
Bangladesh’s president appointed Yunus, who was recommended by student leaders, as the head of the interim government late on Tuesday and said the remaining members need to be finalised soon to overcome the current crisis and pave way for elections.
The interim government will fill a power vacuum left after Bangladesh’s army chief announced Hasina’s resignation in a televised address on Monday that followed weeks of deadly violence that ripped through the country, killing about 300 people and injuring thousands.
“It is critical that trust in government be restored quickly,” Yunus, 84, told the Financial Times on Wednesday, adding that he was not seeking an elected role or appointment beyond the interim period.
(With agency inputs)
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Read More: ‘For A Little While’: Bangladesh’s Ousted PM To Stay In Delhi, Her Son Says Plans To Seek