Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, on Wednesday warned that Bangladesh was turning into “another Pakistan on India’s eastern side”, alleging that Islamist extremist groups had gained unprecedented space and that the country’s deteriorating security situation posed a direct threat to India and the wider region.Virtually addressing at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in New Delhi, Joy claimed that the political and security situation in Bangladesh had worsened dramatically since the ouster of the Awami League government in August 2024. He alleged that the country had become a “failed state”, with democratic institutions, the rule of law and freedom of expression under severe strain.”What should concern India most is Bangladesh has become another Pakistan on India’s eastern side. You have another Pakistan today on your eastern front,” Joy said.Claiming that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had been given “an open hand” in Bangladesh, he alleged that hundreds of convicted militants jailed during the Awami League government had been released and extremist organisations were operating openly.”Hizb ut-Tahrir marches openly. Al-Qaeda operatives speak at public rallies. This does not portend well for India and the world at large. The next generation of global terrorists will come from Bangladesh unless this is stopped now,” he claimed.Joy urged the Indian media to sustain international attention on developments in Bangladesh, arguing that greater global scrutiny could influence world leaders.”You are the world’s largest democracy. Your media has reach. This cannot be treated as a story only when something sensational happens. It needs to be covered every day,” he said.The Awami League leader also accused successive administrations in Dhaka of shielding those responsible for violence during the July-August 2024 unrest by granting blanket legal immunity to protesters through an indemnity law.Questioning casualty figures from the period, Joy said there were discrepancies between the death toll cited by the United Nations and figures released by Bangladeshi authorities. He claimed his party had repeatedly sought details from the UN regarding the additional deaths included in its estimates but had received no response.Joy alleged that the indemnity law effectively prevented prosecution of killings committed during the protests, including those of police personnel, civilians and Awami League workers.”How can you have blanket legal protection for killings by anyone, especially killings of police officers? This is unprecedented and completely against all norms of human rights and decency,” he said.He further alleged that thousands of Awami League leaders and supporters had been detained without trial since August 2024, while many had died in custody or been subjected to extrajudicial killings.According to Joy, journalists, editors, media owners and businesspersons perceived to be sympathetic to the Awami League had also faced arrests, prolonged detention and intimidation.He alleged that, ahead of Wednesday’s event, Bangladesh’s intelligence agencies had instructed major media organisations not to broadcast or report on the programme or reproduce coverage from international media outlets.Calling Bangladesh a “failed state”, Joy claimed the country no longer had effective constitutional governance, while alleging that democratic institutions had been systematically weakened.He also accused the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party of trying to politically eliminate the Awami League to consolidate power, alleging that the country’s economy had sharply deteriorated since the change in government and warning that Bangladesh risked becoming a “rogue state” if the current trajectory continued.”What is happening is not justice. It is the political exclusion of the country’s largest political party in order to grab and hold on to power,” Joy alleged.