Nahid Islam, appointed as an adviser to the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said this in an interview given to Reuters on Friday (August 9).

He said, “I am interested to know why she (Hasina) fled the country. We will prosecute all the murders that took place under him. This was one of the demands of our movement. Even if he doesn’t come back, we will work towards bringing him back.”

The student movement against the discriminatory quota system in government jobs that started in July gradually turned into a one-phase movement, demanding the resignation of ‘dictator’ Sheikh Hasina, who has been in power for 20 of the last 30 years.

In this movement, about 300 people, most of whom were university and college students, were killed in the conflict between the students, members of the law enforcement agencies and the leaders and workers of the government party organization.

Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajib Wazed Joy said in a recent media interview that Hasina will return from India if elections are announced in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s main opposition party has demanded to hold elections within three months.

Sajib Wazed Joy, who is based in the US, was requested to comment in this regard, but he did not respond. Sheikh Hasina, who is in India, could not be reached for comment.

A student leader, Abu Bakar Majumder, told Reuters separately that they wanted Hasina to return and face justice.

Nahid Islam said one of the main priorities of the interim government is to hold a free and fair election since the opposition boycotted the last election. Nahid also said that the interim government will give priority to investigating the suspected corruption of the previous government.

He said that electoral and constitutional reforms are necessary before holding elections in Bangladesh. So it is not clear when the next election will be held. He did not mention any specific time frame.

When Nahid was asked whether he wants to become the prime minister one day, he said, “What I will do next depends on the people of Bangladesh.”

He said, “India built relations with Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, not with all the people of Bangladesh.”

He also said, “We want friendly relations with India. India should also look at its foreign policy. Otherwise it will be a problem for all of South Asia.”