New Delhi

No stranger to India. Saima Wazed, the daughter of the former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has spent her growing years in Delhi and now heads a global outfit based out of India's capital.

Saima Wazed,55, has been working as the elected Regional Director for Southeast Asia at the WHO headquarters in Delhi since February 2023. She is the first Bangladeshi and second woman to hold this position.

Saima's journey began on November 1, 2023, when she was nominated by the member countries of the World Health Organization's Southeast Asia Region during the Regional Committee session in New Delhi.

Her appointment was confirmed by the Executive Board of the World Health Organization on 23 January 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.

In her new assignment, Saima oversees ongoing international health efforts in 11 countries with a population of more than 2 billion in Southeast Asia.  

Sheikh Hasina with daughter Siama in New Delhi (File)

While Saima was carrying out this crucial WHO responsibility in Delhi, her mother Sheikh Hasina had to make a dramatic escape from Bangladesh. According to reports, despite their closeness, the mother and daughter have yet to see each other due to the secrecy of her mother’s location and concerns for her safety.

A psychologist by profession, Saima has made significant contributions to the field of neurodevelopmental disorders. Since 2012, she has been chairing the National Advisory Committee on Neuro-developmental Disorders of Bangladesh.

Earlier she was an Advisor to the Director-General of the World Health Organization on Mental Health and Autism.

Saima's husband, Khandaker Masur Hussain Mitu, is the scion of a prominent political family in Bangladesh. However, very little is known about him as the couple have kept their lives closely guarded.

Saima’s late father MA Wazed was a renowned physicist and former chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

He wrote several books on physics and worked at the Indian Atomic Energy Commission in New Delhi during the family's self-imposed exile in Delhi after a coup in Dhaka in which the founder of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and his entire family were assassinated in August 1995.

Hasina and her sister Rehana were the only survivours as they were abroad at the time of the Military coup.

Sheikh Hasina, Siama Wajed and Sajeeb with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Hasina's husband passed away at the age of 67 and was laid to rest at his ancestral village in Pirganj, Rangpur, Bangladesh. 

Saima's brother Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed is an Awami League member and a controversial figure in Bangladesh. Sajeeb, who lives in the United States, is a businessman and a member of the Bangladesh Awami League.

He served as the Prime Minister's Information and Communication Technology Advisor and is known for his work on the Digital Bangladesh initiative. The ambitious project remains largely unfinished and is also embroiled in allegations of financial irregularities.  

Both Siama and Sanjeeb lived in Delhi in a house located on the Ring Road. In their public utterances, They have spoken of their fond memories of going on picnics in India Gate. The family enjoyed a great bond with many Bengalis including the family of former President Pranab Mukherjee.

No wonder Congress leader and daughter of Pranab Mukherjee wrote a heartfelt note for Aunty Hasina when she had to leave the country in a huff and once again take shelter in Delhi on X:

Stay safe & strong Hasina Aunty. Tomorrow is another day. My prayers are with you🙏 #SheikhHasina pic.twitter.com/pXt4GmzEc4

— Sharmistha Mukherjee (@Sharmistha_GK) August 5, 2024

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Siama did her schooling in Delhi and later went to Bengaluru for higher studies while her brother was sent away to Nainital and Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu to complete his studies.