Sajeeb Wazed

Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed ( bn, সজীব আহমেদ ওয়াজেদ; born 27 July 1971), also known as Sajeeb Wazed Joy (), is a Bangladeshi businessman and politician. He is a member of the Awami League and serves as Advisor to the Government of Bangladesh on Information and Communication Technology.

Personal life

Wazed was born in Dhaka during the Bangladesh Liberation War on 27 July 1971. His parents were nuclear scientist Dr. M. A. Wazed Miah and Sheikh Hasina Wazed. In August 1975, his grandparents and uncles were assassinated during a military coup in Bangladesh; 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, along with her arch-rival Khaleda Zia. Wazed attended boarding school in India, including St. Joseph's College in Nainital and Kodaikanal International School in Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu. 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.

Wazed was settled in the United States for over two decades. He married Kristine Ann Overmire on 26 October 2002. They have a daughter named Sophia. Their house is located in Falls Church, Virginia. Since 2009, Wazed has divided his time between Bangladesh and the United States.

Career

He is the President of the US-based firm Wazed Consulting Inc. Wazed is regarded as the mastermind of the Digital Bangladesh initiative and promoting the Vision 2021 manifesto of the Awami League. Wazed was listed by the World Economic Forum as one of its Young Global Leaders. Wazed is also a lobbyist and columnist on behalf of the Bangladeshi government.

Wazed has pledged to transform Bangladesh's IT industry into the country's largest export sector, but critics say he has achieved little towards that end. Wazed has accused the Editor of '' The Daily Star'', the country's largest circulated English daily, of sedition; and a pro-opposition journalist of attempted murder. Wazed has also had conflicts with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and refused to publicly denounce Islamic extremists for the murder of Bangladeshi atheists, in order to avoid alienating the country's conservative clergy, despite professing himself as a secularist.

Leadership

In 2007 and 2008, the country underwent another black chapter with an unelected caretaker government usurping power with the backing of the then military establishment. The notorious 'Minus Two' formula was put in place not only to rid the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, but also Sajeeb Wazed's mother, the then Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina. After 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 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 two consecutive governments having won the national elections in 2008 and 2014 respectively.

His formal involvement in the party made its way on 25 February 2010 as he became a primary member of the Rangpur (the ancestral home district of his late father) district unit of Awami League. In addition, he joined as a voluntary and unpaid advisor to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, looking after the country's ICT present and future, a role which he continues till date. Using his mother's position and his own personal reputation among party leaders, he could easily have opted for a top position in the party. However, his humility, willing to learn from the bottom and leadership traits did not allow him to do that.

Public life

Wazed first appeared on the Bangladeshi political scene in 2004, when he made a widely publicized visit to Bangladesh. On 25 February 2009, Wazed officially joined the Awami League as a primary member of the Rangpur district unit of the party. Rangpur is the ancestral home district of his father Wazed Miah and his potential parliamentary constituency.

After the Awami League returned to power in 2009 with Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister for a second time, he made his first public statements after the BDR Mutiny, praising his mother's handling of the crisis. "This is probably the biggest incident Bangladesh has had since 1975 and our government and the prime minister has handled this compassionately, pragmatically but decisively to bring the situation under control" he said in an interview to the BBC
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