SOURCE ; NEW18
Last Updated:May 17, 2025, 09:14 IST
This will be their first in-person meeting since Sheikh Hasina left Bangladesh.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy is likely to meet Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi and may also travel to Kolkata. (Image: Reuters)
Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of Sheikh Hasina, is expected to visit India soon, according to sources. He is likely to meet Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi and may also travel to Kolkata.
This will be their first in-person meeting since Sheikh Hasina left Bangladesh. Recently, Joy acquired US citizenship, and sources say he has applied for a new passport after his Bangladeshi one was revoked by the current interim government.
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Exiled leaders of the Awami League are hopeful about Joy’s visit. His potential trip comes at a time when the interim government in Bangladesh has officially banned the Awami League.
On 12 May, the Election Commission cancelled the registration of the Awami League, the former ruling party led by the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, effectively preventing it from contesting the next national election, which is expected to be held by June next year. Political parties must be registered with the Commission to be eligible to participate in elections.
The cancellation came just hours after the interim government, headed by Muhammad Yunus, issued a formal notification banning the Awami League and its affiliated bodies from conducting any activities—online or offline. The Ministry of Home Affairs stated that all activities, “including any kind of publication, media, online and social media” as well as “any kind of campaign, procession, meeting, gathering (or) conference” would be outlawed until the trial of the party and its leaders is concluded by a special tribunal under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act. The decision, the ministry said, is effective immediately.
Speaking to News18, a former Awami League minister said, “We are very hopeful that he will meet Sheikh Hasina and speak with leaders who are in exile. The interim government has banned the Awami League in an unethical manner. This is part of their strategy to prevent the party from participating in the upcoming elections.”
Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, fled the country on 5 August 2024 and has been in exile in India since then. Her son has not met her in person for several years. The decision to ban the Awami League was first announced on 10 May, with authorities citing the need to safeguard Bangladesh’s sovereignty.
Until recently, Sheikh Hasina had been communicating with Awami League supporters via Zoom and other virtual platforms. However, with the latest government directive, a complete ban on the party’s activities has been imposed.
The Awami League is one of Bangladesh’s two major political parties and a central player in the country’s fractious parliamentary democracy, which has long been marred by political violence, coups, and assassinations.
- First Published:
May 17, 2025, 09:14 IST
