Dhaka, Jan 19 (IANS) Sajeeb Wazed, son of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, alleged that the February 12 election in Bangladesh is a staged drama rather than a transparent democratic process, accusing the “illegal” radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami-backed interim government led by Muhammad Yunus of orchestrating it.

Wazed warned that efforts are underway to legitimise a rigged election in the South Asian nation, claiming that extremist fundamentalist forces that seized power following July–August 2024 demonstrations by using students as a front, were once again deploying the same strategy.

“The upcoming election in Bangladesh is not a transparent democratic process. It is a staged drama orchestrated by the illegal Jamaat-backed Yunus government. Another performance is underway to legitimise a rigged election. Just as extremist fundamentalist forces seized power in July–August by using ordinary students as a front, the same strategy is being applied again,” Wazed, the former Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, posted on X.

Slamming the Yunus regime, he further said, “This government does not want to turn the election into a celebration of democracy. It wants to use the election as a tool to establish fundamentalism. Here, it is not the ballot box but a prewritten script that matters. Not the people’s opinion, but Yunus’s predetermined plan is the final word.”

Wazed said the people of Bangladesh were confronted with a stark choice—either to participate in this “staged” election and legitimise fundamentalism, or to reject what he called “farce” to protect their future. The decision, he said, lies not only at the polling station, but within each individual's conscience.

Asserting that an election from which the Awami League, the party that led Bangladesh’s independence struggle, is deliberately excluded cannot represent the will of the people, Wazed said it is merely a "tactic to seize power, a conspiracy to capture the state".

“Since coming to power, the illegal Jamaat-backed Yunus has pushed a once-organised country toward destruction. The economy, security, and social harmony are all under threat. Creating space for fundamentalism and militancy has become their core objective,” he added.

Calling on the people of Bangladesh to boycott what he described as an “illegal, rigged election”, Wazed said, “It is the responsibility of every parent in this country to ensure a safe and progressive Bangladesh for their children. To fulfill that responsibility, one must say no to fundamentalism, no to militancy, and no to this rigged election. This is not a call for a vote boycott; it is a call to save the state. This is not about the interest of any party; it is about the future of Bangladesh.”

(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)