Sajeeb Wazed Joy
President Sayem's life was under threat until he signed: Joy
Former president Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem's life was hanging in the balance until he was obliged to sign, Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy said in a Facebook post.
Following the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sayem was made president of the country on November 6, 1975, and continued till April 21, 1977.
President Sayem, who was succeeded by Ziaur Rahman, secretly bore the pain of not being able to hand over power to people's representatives through an election, Joy said.
Also Read: Be vigilant against conspiracies by extremists, peddlers of religion: Joy
"Zia promised Sayem that he would arrange an election. But, staying in the position of the military chief, he organised a 'yes-no' vote, which means that he was the sole candidate and people could vote only in favour of or against him," he added.
Joy called this a "dark chapter in history" that the "BNP kept locked for long."
Madison event evocative of Concert for Bangladesh: Joy
Commemorating the historic 1971-Concert for Bangladesh, the ICT Ministry organized, at the same Madison Square Garden, another concert, evoking the precedence of 'melody for humanity' set by the world's all-time best musicians, said Prime Minister's ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy.
Sharing the vibe of the concert, Joy, who was singing and cheering as part of the crowd, wrote from his verified Facebook account, "This weekend I relived that moment as we paid tribute to that melody-for-humanity event through another concert on the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh".
Read: Dhaka, Seoul to work together for their prosperity
Reminiscing the unforgettable lyric by George Harrison on war-torn Bangladesh, 'My friend came to me/ With sadness in his eyes/ He told me that he wanted help/ Before his country dies', he wrote, "Beatles' star George Harrison didn't just write and compose the song but also went on to think about doing something that might help the people of Bangladesh, a victim of one of history's worst genocides. He reached out to maestros like Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, who also agreed to drum up support for the cause. Rest is history. Concert for Bangladesh set the precedence of helping a victim-of-war nation through a concert."
"Whenever I watch it on YouTube, it takes me back to a golden moment - George Harrison singing the song Bangladesh, Bob Dylan rendering 'How many roads a man must walk down', and Pundit Ravi Shankar playing his fingers on his sitar like a storm. They are sharing the same stage!" he added.
"The dream for Bangladesh, as the world's all-time greatest rock stars and musical masters had seen, came true as the war-torn country back in 1971 is now an epitome of sustained progress and development. From the engineering masterpiece Padma Bridge to the technological feat Bangabandhu Satellite, Bangladesh has made inspiring history. Still, no success story goes unchallenged by a few people with wrong intentions," he mentioned.
Calling upon the country’s people to stand vigilant against the peddlers of religion and supporters of war criminals, he said, "We must be careful so that the ghosts of war criminals cannot bring the dark chapters back."
Read: Current geopolitical situation creating more opportunities for closer Dhaka-Seoul ties: Envoy
Joy said they must show zero tolerance to the peddlers of religion.
"We must stand united on our promise for Golden Bengal on this Golden Jubilee. Let's sing Harrison's Bangladesh together once more and let the world hear it. This time the promise on this Golden Jubilee is to build Golden Bangla, the dream of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman."
Scorpions rocked the stage on Sunday while Bangladeshi band Chirkutt appeared there as a guest performer.
Joy blasts BNP-Jamaat rule for corruption
Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy has shared the video "Everything under the heel of Hawa Bhaban through syndicate" to depict BNP-Jamaat's "corruption from 2001 to 2006."
During the rule of BNP-Jamaat between 2001 and 2006, all construction projects, such as roads, bridges, culverts, and government buildings, doomed by bribery and corruption, remained incomplete and defective, Joy wrote from his verified Facebook account.
Also read: Joy depicts graft in power sector during BNP's last tenure
"Through this video, I tried to demonstrate how Hawa Bhaban used to distribute all government projects through syndicates and how the close associates of Tarique (Rahman) turned tycoons overnight through corruption," he mentioned.
Joy also wrote: "You will hear straight from the horse's mouth. People will testify to that syndicate business of BNP-Jamaat that they fell victim to. I will convey, phase by phase, the facts and figures about the misrule of the BNP-Jamaat ally."
Also read: Joy shares video report on ‘BNP’s money laundering’
‘Thank You PM, we are integrated back into society’, say leprosy patients
Leprosy patients, who were virtually excluded from society, thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for integrating them back into society.
"People suffering from leprosy were loathed in our country. There was hatred in the eyes of relatives, neighbors, and onlookers. Then we came to Dhaka. We were staying at platform number 8 at Kamlapur Railway Station. It was in the air that the Awami League leader was set to come. We thought if we met her, she might find a way out for us," they said in a visual report shared by Prime Minister's ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy from his verified Facebook account.
Read: Bangabandhu's birthday evokes his dream: Joy
"As we went to meet her, a mat was spread. She came and, putting the mat aside, sat with us. We, 18 people, were given something to eat. She also ate with us. We discussed our habitat issue with us. She promised us that if she was voted to power, she would secure a shelter for us. Then when her party was elected in 1996, she started the housing project for us," they added.
Recounting how life has changed since then, they further said, "We were trained in sewing and candle making. We were offered a loan from social welfare. We were given treatment and medication for free. Our children were blessed with education. Some of them completed their BSC and some diploma. When we were suffering from leprosy, we had no life, no society. No one cared for us, no one loved us. After coming here, we were integrated back into society. We can get in touch with other people."
In the post, Sajeeb praised the poverty alleviation model, envisioned and realized by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, paving landless people the path for self-reliance, endowing them with shades overhead and sources of empowerment.
"So far, the government has built one house with land for about 4 lakh uprooted families on the initiative of Bangabandhu daughter Sheikh Hasina. Handing over houses to 1 lakh more families is underway," he observed.
Shedding light on further initiatives geared towards empowering marginal people, he said, "Ensuring the housing arrangements, the government is now taking various measures for their earnings. These families are becoming prosperous by utilizing the facilities of the developmental infrastructure of Bangladesh."
"Besides government allowances are reaching the homes of the elderly, widows, the disabled, and the helpless. As a result, their children are returning from their early working lives. Free education and stipends have helped the new generation of helpless people return to school," he added.
Read: Joy shares video report on ‘BNP’s money laundering’
The benefits of independence are reaching at every door, the most of the marginalized people are now daring of dreaming for a better future, he wrote in the concluding remark.
His observations were also substantiated with a visual report incorporating interviews of the beneficiaries who thanked the prime minister for the series of measures transforming their lives.
Beneficiaries including people from transgender communities and ethnic minorities also spoke highly on the initiatives meant for including them in the society.
Bangabandhu's birthday evokes his dream: Joy
Prime Minister’s ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy has said the 102nd birthday of his grandfather - Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman - evokes his dream about Bangladesh, its people.
"Let it resonate in every heart and get us closer to the realization of Vision 2041," Joy said in a Facebook post from his verified page on Thursday wishing Bangabandhu on his birthday.
Read: Birth Anniversary: President, PM pay homage to Bangabandhu
The only occasion when his grandmother objected was when his grandfather allowed him a puff on his lighted pipe, Joy recalled.
"While my grandma turned furious, my grandfather let out his trademark uproarious laughter as I coughed my little lungs out.”
“That is one of my few childhood memories with my grandfather that never faded all these decades," he said.
But, the curtain on that togetherness came down on August 15, 1975, Joy said, adding that since then, life has been one of ceaseless struggle to survival for each surviving member of his family.
Read: Remembering Bangabandhu on his 102nd birth anniversary
"The steely resolve of my grandfather to build Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal) was passed down to my mother," Joy said.
Sajeeb Wazed highlights Bangabandhu's heroic role in language movement
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy has paid tribute to all language martyrs on the Martyrs’ Day and International Mother Language Day, shedding light on the role of Bangabandhu in catalysing the movement to uphold the mother tongue.
In a Facebook post from his verified account, he shared part of an animated film titled ‘Mujib – My Father’, portraying the charismatic leadership demonstrated by the father of the nation in the historic language movement and the wrath he incurred from West Pakistan.
Read: Joy shares video report on ‘BNP’s money laundering’
The film was made under the supervision of the ICT Division.
“How were the days during the language movement? How did young student leader (Father of the Nation Bangabandhu) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman organize students for the struggle? Why was he imprisoned for entire three years between 1949 and 1952?” he posed questions, accompanied by the animated film that answered all of them.
Read: Joy shares video on BNP-Jamaat's "anti-Bangladesh activities"
The film recreated the fiery historic moments of the language movement where Dhaka was seething with protests against the declaration that Urdu would be the only state language of entire Pakistan, a decision deliberately neglecting tens of millions of Bangla-speakers.
In a separate post, he commemorated the supreme sacrifice of the language martyrs.
"5 years of country's going backward": Sajeeb Wazed on BNP's tenure
Prime Minister's ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy has condemned the ruling by the BNP-Jamaat government between 2001 and 2006, terming the period as "five years of Bangladesh's going backward".
Sajeeb Wazed made this remark in a Facebook post from his verified account, accompanied by a visual report, which displayed a slogan criticising the BNP-led government, "No electricity, no water, Hawa Bhaban - money treasure".
Taunting BNP leader Khaleda Zia's speech that termed the 2001-2006 tenure as 'awe-inspiring', the visual report mentioned that the tenure was 'awe-inspiring' indeed, as incidents such as "murder, repression, grabbing, politicization, incessant rise in price of essentials, unchecked plundering, corruption, money-laundering, extremism, and grenade attack" set a record in post-independence Bangladesh.
The video also incorporated some testimonies of people, in general, against the BNP-Jamaat government.
Also read: Joy shares video report on ‘BNP’s money laundering’
One of the people interviewed said, "BNP displayed sheer failure in five years of running the state. It was the government during the tenure of which school teachers are killed, students are murdered, journalists are repressed, corruption pervades every sector."
"I saw Tarique (son of Khaleda Zia) roaming around with 50-Honda. Now he owns brand-new cars. Where did these come from? These came through corruption," another person was heard to say in the video.
Another person was heard to say that Tarique became one of the richest men in Asia by laundering money.
Having turned Hawa Bhaban into a parallel powerhouse of the state, Tarique Rahman transformed it into an unwritten hub of bribe and percentage, according to the visual report.
Also read: Joy shares video on BNP-Jamaat's "anti-Bangladesh activities"
Through massive politicisation and syndicate, they artificially increased the price of essentials and thus siphoned off thousands of crores of Taka from the public, said the video.
Joy shares video report on ‘BNP’s money laundering’
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy has levelled hefty money laundering allegations against BNP leaders, including Tarique Rahman, backed by evidence from top global watchdogs.
Joy shared an “investigative” video report accompanied by a text “A whistleblower on who, how, when, and where laundered money from Bangladesh' from his verified Facebook page which described how the BNP leaders siphoned off a huge amount of money during the party's last tenure (2001- 2006).
Among them, according to the video report, Khaleda Zia's elder son, Tarique Rahman stashed over Tk 20 crore in the account of his friend, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, with Citi Bank in Singapore.
Even an FBI official testified in a money laundering case against Tarique, said the report mentioning that money laundering a disease.
Also read: Joy shares video on BNP-Jamaat's "anti-Bangladesh activities"
Khaleda Zia's younger son Arafat (Koko) illegally transferred a huge amount of money to Singapore during the BNP's tenure between 2001 and 2006, the video report mentioned.
A portion of money siphoned off by him-- more than 3 million Singaporean dollars-- was brought back by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in three phases. His corruption was even detailed on the FBI website, according to the video.
In the Paradise Papers, many BNP leaders were named, including Abdul Awal Mintoo, former adviser to the BNP chairperson, his wife, and three sons, according to the video report that mentioned that wherever there was an investigation into corruption in the world, names of BNP leaders surfaced.
The infamous Panama Papers named 34 Bangladeshis, individuals and organisations, for involvement in money laundering, according to the video report.
Among them are M Morshed Khan, former foreign minister of the BNP-led government, and his son Faisal Morshed Khan, it mentioned.
Also read: A bankrupt group using an innocent phone conversation to serve their agenda: Anisul Haque
The video mentioned that these global watchdogs do not care if somebody is in power or not -- so they would expose Awami League leaders for similar corruption if they could -- but they have not.Recently, Pandora's papers leaked around 12 million secret documents. “Be it Pandora's Papers or Panama Papers, no global corruption watchdog has ever named any top-level leader of Awami League. But, BNP leaders were named everywhere,” according to the video report.
Joy shares video on BNP-Jamaat's "anti-Bangladesh activities"
Prime Minister’s ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy on Friday shared a video detailing BNP-Jamaat's "anti-Bangladesh activities" with the help of lobbyists in the United States.
"The BNP-Jamaat alliance had appointed eight firms to lobby with the United States against providing aid and development assistance to Bangladesh," he wrote while sharing the video from his verified Facebook page.
Read: Pakistani rulers attempted to kill Bangabandhu in prison: Joy
Joy mentioned that the BNP-Jamaat did the same thing before, as Begum Zia wrote an article in Washington Times in 2013 seeking US intervention on Bangladesh and hindering GSP facilities for RMG products.
"From 2015 BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir wrote a series of letters to US policy makers and politicians to stop different development facilities provided by the USA to Bangladesh," Joy said.
To know more, Joy encouraged all to watch the video titled "BNP's Lobbying in US: A glimpse of anti- Bangladesh activities with hired lobby shops" and sought comments on that.
Joy denounces Jamaat's depravity and connivance with Pakistan during Liberation War
Bangabandhu's grandson Sajeeb Wazed Joy came down heavily on Jamaat-e-Islami for its wartime brutalities and conspiracies geared towards strengthening the footing of Pakistan and wiping out the dream of freedom cherished by Bangladeshis.
In a Facebook post from his verified account on Wednesday, he mentioned multiple anti-liberation activities Jamaat engaged in.
Read:Sajeeb Wazed Joy pays tributes to martyred intellectuals
"As the Liberation War was drawing towards the end, the victory of the Bengali nation seemed to be a foregone conclusion. When the world was vocal against the atrocities committed by Pakistanis and in favor of freedom sought by Bengalis, Pakistanis hatched one last conspiracy," he added.
Joy said, "They took the initiative to take some Jamaat leaders to the UN council as the representatives of Bengalis. Their purpose was to resist the final victory of Bangladesh."
"When freedom fighters shook the footing of the Pakistani junta in November of 1971, Jamaat spokesperson and Muslim League leader Shah Azizur Rahman resorted to the UN to speak in favor of the Pakistani junta and against Bengalis. They lashed out at the freedom fighters without reservation," he wrote.
"Posing as a Bengali leader of Pakistan's political party, Shah Aziz denied the mass killing conducted by the armed forces of Pakistan in Bangladesh. Later, Ziaur Rahman, after grabbing the state power, made this person the prime minister," he added.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy, also the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, heavily criticized former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia for entrusting war criminals with the charge of ministries.
"Armed Al-Badr and Al-Shams, made by Niazi, assisted Pakistani soldiers on the warfield. They were led by Ghulam Azam, Shah Aziz, Nizami, Mojaheed, and other top leaders of Jamaat and Shibir. Long after the independence of Bangladesh, Khaleda offered the charge of ministries to these commanders of rapists and killers after forming the government," Joy further said.
Condemning the conspiracies and strategic moves of Pakistanis during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, he said as the Liberation War was drawing towards the end, the victory of the Bengali nation seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
Read:Khaleda Zia gave posthumous award to Bangabandhu's killer: Joy
"When the world was vocal against the atrocities committed by Pakistanis and in favor of freedom sought by Bengalis, Pakistanis hatched one last conspiracy. They took the initiative to take some Jamaat leaders to the UN council as the representatives of Bengalis. Their purpose was to resist the final victory of Bangladesh."
"The US security apparatus became active to implement the conspiracy of Pakistanis. That is why they formed a right-wing sphere with Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, Taheruddin Thakur, and Mahbub Alam Chashi. Their target was to resist the defeat of Pakistanis in the Liberation War and wipe out the dream of freedom of Bangladeshis and then form a confederation state with Pakistan. This secret plan was leaked and thus couldn't be carried forward. But that didn't stop Jamaat. They left no stone unturned to bury the desire of Bangladeshis for freedom," he went on saying.