Sheikh Hasina will not make a political comeback, says son Sajeeb Wazed Joy
London, Aug 5: Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina will not make a political comeback, her son and former official adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy said on Monday, asserting that she left the country for her own safety on her family's insistence.
Hasina, 76, resigned and left the country for London earlier in the day amid mass protests against her government.
In an interview to Newshour on the BBC World Service, Joy said there would be no political comeback for his mother.
He said that Hasina had been considering resigning since Sunday and had left the country for her own safety after her family insisted.
Joy said that his mother, who ruled Bangladesh for 15 years, was "so disappointed that after all her hard work, for a minority to rise up against her", according to the report.
Expressing Hasina's disappointment, he said, “She has turned Bangladesh around. When she took over power, it was considered a failing state. It was a poor country. Until today it was considered one of the rising tigers of Asia. She's very disappointed.”
The clashes between protesters demanding Hasina's resignation and the ruling Awami League supporters in different parts of Bangladesh on Sunday erupted days after more than 200 people were killed in violent clashes between police and mostly student protesters. At least 300 people have been killed within a fortnight.
Rejecting accusations that the government had been heavy-handed in dealing with protestors, Joy said, “You’ve had policemen beaten to death – 13 just yesterday. So what do you expect the police to do when mobs are beating people to death?”
The protesters demanded an end to the controversial quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971.
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Anbumani asks PM Modi to ban sale of cigarettes for those born after 2009
Chennai (PTI): PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take legislative measures to prohibit smoking and the sale of cigarettes to individuals born on or after January 1, 2009, thereby creating a smoke-free generation.
Anbumani, former Union minister for health and family welfare, said, "Once implemented, it (ban on cigarettes) will ensure that future generations are legally prevented from ever accessing tobacco products", he said in a letter to Modi.
"I write to you with a deep sense of urgency and responsibility, drawing your kind attention to a critical public health issue that continues to endanger the lives of millions of Indians, particularly among the younger generation who are affected by cigarette smoking", he claimed.
Stating that India unfortunately bears a disproportionately high burden of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, he said, adding that, according to global health estimates, nearly 267 million Indians, approximately one in five citizens, use tobacco.
"Each year, tobacco consumption directly accounts for over 1.35 million deaths, while exposure to second-hand smoke contributes to a total of approximately 2.3 million deaths annually", he said, adding, "these figures are alarming and reflect a public health crisis of immense magnitude".
He pointed out that Scientific evidence unequivocally establishes tobacco use as a leading cause of cancer and numerous non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular ailments, chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD, and multiple forms of malignancies. "In India alone, tobacco is responsible for nearly 40–50 per cent of all cancer cases, with over 4.7 lakh deaths annually attributed to tobacco-induced cancers", he added.
"In this context, I strongly urge the Union government to consider enacting a transformative law similar to that of the United Kingdom, that permanently prohibits the sale and consumption of tobacco products for individuals born on or after a specified year (such as 2009). Such a generational ban would mark a decisive step towards eliminating tobacco use in India over time", he said.
