New Delhi: US-based Awami League leader and son of former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, has launched a sharp attack on Bangladesh’s political direction, alleging foreign interference, rising extremism and institutional collapse. Addressing a media forum virtually on Wednesday, Joy claimed that Pakistan’s ISI had played a role in the unrest and warned that Bangladesh risked sliding into a “failed state” if the current trajectory continues. The forum was organized by Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia, New Delhi.
Joy argued that Bangladesh had begun to resemble “another Pakistan in the East of India,” alleging that intelligence networks of Pakistan were operating inside the country and helping fuel instability. He also suggested that militant groups and radical currents had gained space under the new political order, while the state’s response to violence and custodial abuses remained weak.
Joy’s warning about Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al-Qaeda-linked networks is partly echoed by security reporting.
Joy also blamed economic deterioration on what he described as mismanagement since the interim administration took charge. That criticism reflects a broader political battle over responsibility for Bangladesh’s worsening economic stress, though the economic record is contested and shaped by multiple factors, including inflation, banking fragility and political instability.
Joy further alleged that more than 1,400 people were killed during the unrest and questioned why police killings were not brought under judicial procedure. He described the violence as ‘blanket killings’ and pointed to custodial deaths as evidence of deepening impunity.
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