Nahid Islam, a 26-year-old student, led the protests against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which ended her 15-year reign and forced her to flee to neighbouring India.
Following Hasina’s ouster, Bangladesh’s Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman Monday announced the formation of an interim government after he had “fruitful” talks with leaders of all major political parties.
Islam, as reported by Reuters, is a soft-spoken Sociology student who was the coordinator of a student movement against quotas in government jobs that eventually turned into an oust-Hasina movement.
Born in Dhaka in 1998 to a father who is a teacher, the student leader rose to the limelight last month after being detained by the police along with several other Dhaka University pupils as the police attempted to tighten the noose around the deadly anti-quota protests that have resulted in around 300 fatalities.
Islam, along with other student leaders, was slated to meet the country’s army chief today. However, General Zaman then announced the former PM’s resignation as well as the formation of an interim setup to govern Bangladesh.
On the future of the country’s future, Islam has said that the students will not accept any government led or supported by the military and in fact has proposed the country’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’s name for the post of chief adviser in the future government setup.
“Any government other than the one we recommended would not be accepted,” the student leader said in a social media post on Facebook today.
A day earlier, while speaking to the media he had said that the students would not betray the blood of martyrs who gave their lives for their cause.
“We will create a new democratic Bangladesh through our promise of security of life, social justice and a new political landscape,” Islam said while being flanked by other student leaders.
Dismissing the possibility of the return of what he termed as “fascist rule”, he called on his fellow students to protect the minorities and their places of worship in the prevailing volatile situation in the country.
Providing an insight into Islam’s resolve and commitment to the cause, Nakib Islam, a Geography student, told Reuters that the student leader has incredible stamina and has always believed that the country needed to change.
Nakib went on to say that despite being tortured by the police., who had dumped Islam on the road after he became unconscious, the student leader continued to fight.
“We have confidence that he will not give up. [We are] proud of him,” he added.
Meanwhile, Associate Professor of Government at Cornell University Sabrina Karim, who specialises in studying political violence, has termed the developments in Bangladesh as “historic”.
“This might very well be the first successful Gen Z-led revolution, There is perhaps some optimism for a democratic transition even if the military is involved in the process,” the academic noted.