A memoir titled ‘Mujib to Sajeeb’ has been unveiled in Dhaka, marking the 50th birthday of Sajeeb Wazed Joy - the eldest grandson of Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Joy was born during the Bangladesh Liberation War on July 27 in 1971 to eminent nuclear scientist Dr MA Wazed Miah and Sheikh Hasina. His birth coincided with the birth of the country during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, and so Bangabandhu named him ‘Joy’ as a symbol of the nation’s victory.
Information minister Dr Hasan Mahmud unveiled the book on Monday at his office at the secretariat published by Jayita Prakashani.
State minister for information Dr Md Murad Hasan, and owner of the publishing house Journalist Yeasin Kabir Joy were also present.
Chowdhury Nafees Sharafat, Chairman of the Canadian University of Bangladesh and Padma Bank, is the editor of the book while state minister for youth and sports Md Zahid Ahsan Russel is the advisory editor.
The 112-page book contains 150 photographs of Sajeeb wazed Joy. The price is Tk 600.
The Jayita Prakashani earlier on Sunday published the third edition of the book – “Sajeeb Wazed Joy Samriddho Agamir Protichchhabi (A reflection of a prosperous future)”.
Minister for road transport and bridges Obaidul Quader unveiled that book along with its editor Ashraful Alam Khokan, Deputy Press Secretary of the Prime Minister.
Joy is the architect of the ‘digital Bangladesh’, a campaign that the Awami League government started in the country following its 2008 general election victory.
A Harvard graduate, Joy was the first Bangladeshi to be selected as a Young Global Leader for the year 2007 as an Information Technology (IT) specialist by the World Economic Forum.
The policies taken by him in Bangladesh as the Prime Minister’s ICT Advisor opened a new horizon of ICT usage in Bangladesh.
The pandemic showed the relevance of his policies with hundreds of thousands of people being able to take health services over the phone or using the internet. Many people who lost their jobs could start a new venture using e-platforms.
His policies have also contributed to Bangladesh receiving investment from Silicon Valley. It is a paradigm shift for Bangladesh to reach such a height in ICT from what it had been even less than a decade ago.
His school education was completed in India – starting from St. Joseph’s College Nainital to Tamil Nadu’s Kodaikanal International School in Palani Hills – as his mother, the prime minister, was in exile that time after the gruesome killing of her father, Bangabandhu, and other family members.
Only her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived along with her as both of them were abroad then.
A versatile scholar, Joy earned his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, physics and mathematics from Bangalore University.
With his tremendous desire to learn more, he completed another Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering at the University of Texas, Arlington in the United States.
Finally, he enrolled in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he pursued and successfully completed the Masters in Public Administration.
Due to his policies, Bangladesh continues to improve rapidly in all indicators of technological advancement including mobile phone users, internet users, accessing public services digitally, mobile banking, and earnings from ICT exports.
He also won several international awards for the development of the ICT sector. “He is a hardworking, meritorious and clean-image personality working from behind the scene to build a Digital Bangladesh and to translate the dreams of Bangabandhu and his daughter into reality,” Obaidul Quader had said.
