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New Delhi: Son of former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Saheeb Wazed, claimed that the protests, which led to the death of hundreds and forced Hasina to reign and flee the country, were incited by certain groups, and he suspects the involvement of Pakistan’s ISI as well as Western groups, IANS reported.
Weeks of deadly protests, led by students and the opposition later, killed hundreds in Bangladesh. The protests were after a court replenished aborted legislation which mandated exclusive reservation for the successors of Bangladesh freedom fighters.
Wazed said that their government had removed the quota three years ago, but the families of freedom fighters approached the court, which triggered the protests. When it started as minor demonstrations, the West incited it to the heights of violence when the government wished for a peaceful resolution, he claimed. He said that the Hasina government wanted the judicial committee to resolve the problem and investigate.
He claimed that the situation was deliberately fueled by motive-ridden groups.
He claimed that the decision on quotas was not his government’s but the courts and, therefore, the protests were irrelevant.
He then claimed that the peaceful protests turned violent on July 15 after some protesters started chanting “We are Razakars”. Then they started claiming that his mother, Sheikh Hasina”, called the student ‘Razarkars’, which she didn’t, he claimed.
According to him, when students got angry and started extreme protests, police used excessive force to contain them. However, the government suspended those police officers. But the whole development was pre-designed to escalate the situation between the protesters and the government, he claimed. Many of the protesters had firearms, and they attacked police using them, he said and wondered from where they accessed such weapons.