As Bangladesh marches toward its February 12 general elections amid unprecedented political disarray, the Awami League – once the country’s most formidable political force – now appears rudderless, fractured, and perilously close to irrelevance. What is unfolding is not merely the aftermath of Sheikh Hasina’s fall from power on August 5, 2024, but a far more insidious and calculated dismantling of her party from within. At the center of this implosion stands Sajeeb Wazed Joy, whose call to boycott the elections has been widely ridiculed even by party insiders. Yet Joy is less the mastermind than the instrument. Behind his political miscalculations lies a darker story of infiltration, manipulation, and strategic sabotage – allegedly orchestrated by assets of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), whose long-standing objective has been the political extinction of the Awami League, a party they continue to view as a historical adversary since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.

Commenting on Sheikh Hasina’s son, columnist M A Hossain in an article stated, “There is a recurring lesson in political history, one that parties learn too late and nations pay for dearly: dynasties rot faster than institutions. When power becomes inheritance, judgment withers. Bangladesh’s Awami League is now living that lesson in real time, pushed not by external enemies but by the calculated recklessness of Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Far from rescuing his party after Sheikh Hasina’s exit, Joy is steering its supporters toward confusion, fragmentation, and political chaos – while mistaking noise for leadership.

Hossain further stated:

Sheikh Hasina’s quiet withdrawal from active politics should have prompted introspection inside the Awami League. Instead, it produced a vacuum filled by the least prepared figure imaginable. Joy’s ascent was not the result of party consensus, electoral legitimacy, or grassroots trust. It was the byproduct of dynastic reflex—the assumption that lineage substitutes for competence. History suggests otherwise. Indira Gandhi learned it the hard way after empowering Sanjay. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is still learning it in Manila. Bangladesh is now being forced to learn it........

© Blitz