Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina’s son visits India to meet her

The Indian side is yet to respond to a request from Bangladesh’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to extradite Hasina

New Delhi: Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s US-based son, Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, is in India to meet his mother, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Sheikh Hasina, the newly elected Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chairperson of Bangladesh Awami League, speaks during a meeting with foreign observers and journalists in Dhaka,on January 8, 2024. (REUTERS)

Wazed, who has emerged as a key voice for the Awami League party, arrived in the country ahead of Eid-ul-Adha in order to celebrate the festival with his mother, currently living in self-exile in New Delhi, the people said on condition of anonymity.

Hasina fled to India after the dramatic collapse of the Awami League government in the face of nationwide protests led by student groups last August. She is currently living in a safe house in the heart of the Indian capital.

There was no word from Indian officials on the visit by Wazed, an American citizen who is also known by his nickname of Joy.

“Hasina’s son is visiting India primarily to celebrate Eid with his mother. He is the first visitor she has received since she arrived in India in August last year,” a person close to the Awami League said.

The people said there are currently no plans for Wazed to participate in any public events. Details of his itinerary too are not known, they said.

Relations between the Indian government and Bangladesh’s caretaker administration are currently at an all-time low and the two sides have clashed on Dhaka’s handling of the repression on Bangladesh’s religious minorities.