“At the moment, there is mob rule in Bangladesh,” he said (file)

Dhaka:

The son of Bangladesh’s ousted autocratic president thanked New Delhi on Sunday for “saving her life”, accused the transitional authorities of allowing the “mob regime” and warned of impending chaos without elections soon.

Sheikh Hasina, 76, resigned as prime minister on Monday following a student-led uprising and fled by helicopter to her long-time ally India.

Her government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents during her 15 years in office.

The military announced their resignation and subsequently acceded to students’ demands that 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus should lead an interim government tasked with ending the unrest and implementing democratic reforms.

However, Hasina’s son and former government adviser, US-based Sajeeb Wazed Joy (53), criticized the transitional government as “completely powerless” and consisting of “figureheads.”

“There is a mob in Bangladesh right now,” he said in an interview with AFP from Washington.

He pointed to the dismissal of senior officials, including the Chief Justice, the Central Bank Governor and the Police Chief, which he said was due to the protesters’ demands.

“If the mob says tomorrow, ‘No, we want this person in the transitional government to be replaced,’ then he must be replaced,” he said.

“Sinking in chaos”

Yunus has said he wants to hold elections “within months,” but Wazed warned of the risks of delay.

“It is in their best interest to hold elections … to return to a legitimate government that has the legitimacy of the people and true authority,” he said.

“Otherwise it will simply descend into chaos.”

Hasina won the January election by a landslide, but only after the vote was denounced as neither free nor fair and boycotted by genuine opponents, following a crackdown in which thousands of opposition party members were arrested.

Since Hasina’s escape, members of Hasina’s million-strong Awami League have gone into hiding. They have been subjected to reprisal attacks and party offices have been set on fire.

But Wazed said the party was crucial for the political future of the South Asian country with a population of around 170 million.

“We have tens of millions of followers and they are not going away,” he said.

“Without the Awami League, it will not be possible to establish democracy in Bangladesh. It will never be accepted by at least half of the country’s population.”

Former opposition groups such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are rebuilding their strength after years of oppression. Since Monday, the BNP has been holding a peaceful mass rally in Dhaka.

“It will be a fight between the BNP and the Awami League,” Wazed said. “We have to work together.”

“Excessive violence”

Wazed tried to shift the blame for his mother’s downfall onto others in the government.

“Were mistakes made? Of course,” he said. “They were made by people at the bottom or in the chain of command… It’s unfortunate to blame my mother for this.”

While he acknowledged that police shooting at protesters went too far, he argued that there was violence on both sides.

“Some police officers used excessive force, but there were also attacks on the police – police officers were also killed. The violence was not one-sided,” he said.

“And as the situation escalated, protesters began attacking police with firearms.”

More than 450 people were killed in the unrest leading up to Hasina’s overthrow – 42 of them were police officers, according to the national police chief.

Wazed claimed that unidentified foreign forces supported the protests, a claim for which he provided no evidence.

“I believe the cause now lies outside Bangladesh,” he said.

“Only an intelligence service would be able to smuggle and deliver weapons to protesters.”

It is not clear what Hasina will do next.

Wazed expressed his gratitude to the “government of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi” for saving their lives and ensuring their safety.”

According to analysts, New Delhi saw a common threat in groups that Hasina viewed as rivals and crushed with brutal force, including the BNP.

Hasina has been placed in a secret safe house and has not spoken publicly since arriving at a military base near New Delhi.

It is not clear how long she will now stay in India, but Wazed said there are “no such plans so far” for her to move to a third country.

“My mother never wanted to leave her country – her dream is to retire there,” he said, adding that he speaks to her every day.

“This would have been her last term in office. She is 76 years old. And that is why she just wants to return home. We will have to wait and see whether she will be able to do that.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)