National

Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s 52nd birthday today

The 52nd birth anniversary of Bangabandhu's grandson Sajeeb Wazed Joy, also ICT Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is being celebrated today in a befitting manner, reports BSS.

Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and eminent nuclear scientist Dr MA Wazed Miah, played the pivotal role in setting the country's crucial course being the beacon of 'Digital Bangladesh'.

To mark his birthday, different programmes were arranged including discussions, webinars, tree plantation, cutting of cakes, doa mahfil and distribution of foods among distressed people.

Awami League and its associates and like-minded bodies have drawn up programmes to celebrate his birthday.

Awami Jubo League will plant tree saplings on the premises of Mahanagar Natyamanch at 4pm.

Doa mahfil will be held after Asr prayers on the ground floor of Awami League's Bangabandhu Avenue central office. Cooked foods will also be distributed after the prayers.

Prayers will also be arranged at mosques, temples, churches, pagodas and others prayer houses all over the country. Countrywide tree plantation programme will also be held to mark the birthday of Bangabandhu's grandson.

Awami Swechchhasebak League will arrange a cake-cutting ceremony in the auditorium of Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) at Khamarbari in the capital in the afternoon. Doa mahfil seeking sound health of Joy will also be held on the occasion.

Despite being born to a leading political family, Joy so far preferred a distinct course of action unlike any conventional politician, to materialize the electoral pledge of the party he belongs to and his mother Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leads to build a Digital Bangladesh.

Joy was a key figure in formulating the Awami League's Vision 2021 manifesto, based-on what the party was elected thrice to power at a stretch since 2008, according to media reports.

Being a member of Bangladesh's most illustrious political family, Joy's character largely reflects on the qualities of his grandfather Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of independent Bangladesh.

A graduate in computer engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in the United States, Joy was born in 1971, coinciding with the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation. His father Dr MA Wazed Miah was an internationally reputed nuclear scientist.

In August 1975, his grandparents including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, uncles and aunts were assassinated during a military coup in Bangladesh.

During the time, he and his mother, father and aunt survived as they were visiting West Germany.

The family was barred by the military regime from entering the country until 1981. After returning to Bangladesh in 1981, his mother assumed the presidency of the Awami League and spearheaded the campaign for the restoration of democracy.

Sajeeb Wazed attended boarding school in India, including St. Joseph's College in Nainital and Kodaikanal International School in Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu, according to wikipedia.

He studied computer science at the University of Bangalore. Then, transferred to The University of Texas at Arlington in the United States where he graduated with a BSc in computer engineering.

Subsequently, Wazed attended the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University where he completed his Masters in Public Administration.

During the black chapter of caretaker government, when his mother Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was arrested on non-existent charges which was subsequently found to be unsubstantiated, Sajeeb Wazed took charge of bringing the world's attention not only to the plight of his mother Sheikh

Hasina but also the restoration of democracy in his motherland by launching several campaigns in the United States and Europe.

His efforts brought fruition, and the military-backed extra constitutional government was compelled to release Sheikh Hasina from prison, following which she has led three consecutive governments having won the national elections in 2008, 2014 and 2018 respectively.