Nahid Islam, a student demonstrator who was sworn in as minister in the acting government of Bangladesh in 2024, in Dacca.
Rajib Dhar / AP
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tilting legend
Rajib Dhar / AP
Dacca, Bangladesh – Last summer, 26 -year -old Bangladais student activist, Nahid Islam, made the unthinkable. With a few companions, he prepared the ground to bring down the authoritarian Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his government.
He triggered the very first Gen-Z uprising from Bangladesh and concluded with Hasina fleeing hastily to India in a helicopter.
Student shares have had a high price: at least 1,400 people lost their lives and many others were injured, mainly in the hands of Hasina’s security forces.
For Islam, the eight months since then have been a whirlwind. The sociology graduate was quickly part of the interim government led by the Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, and more recently, he has become the head of a new political party led by students, the National Citizenux Party (PNC).
It is beyond all that the little known son of parents’ educators of the middle class could have imagined, but Islam remains imperturbable.
“There was no way to withdraw the regime except by an uprising,” he told Dhaka at NPR. “We knew that negotiation was not an option. But it was not only against the regime – it was against a whole corrupt system.”
Is a new political era possible?
The question that many Bangladais are asking itself is the following: the uprising is reflected in a long-term political representation, or will the country’s long-standing political establishment continue to maintain its grip?
Islam considers that a new political era is possible, but it will take time. His vision of the centrist NCP is that which is distinguished from the old guard and brings a new way of doing things in what he describes as a “post-ideological” era.
“We want a new political system and a new constitution,” he said. “The other allows authoritarianism. We need a reform so that future governments cannot repeat errors in the past.”
He refers to accusations of corruption, oppression, human rights violations and a lack of freedom of expression that has persisted for years in two of the main political parties in Bangladesh.
Exactly 54 years ago, on March 26, 1971, East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh, said its independence from Western Pakistan. This led to a brutal war of nine months, which was followed by a period of domination with single party and, ultimately, a military control which lasted until 1991.
Since then, it has been dominated by the Awami League, led by Hasina, and the Bangladesh Nationale Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, widow of former military leader Ziaur Rahman.
The third party, the Jamaat-E-Islami religiously conservative, also had an influence. It has been prohibited on numerous occasions due to accusations of incentive to violence, more recently in 2024. The ban was lifted by the interim government.
The main media surveys and platforms in Bangladesh provide that the BNP will dominate the next legislative elections, which should take place in December or shortly after.
Pressing a political vacuum
With most managers of the Awami League exiles or imprisoned, and an uncertainty about their participation, a political void is forged in which Islam wants to draw.
According to the Bangladesh statistics office, a quarter of the population is between 15 and 29 years old – or 45.9 million people.
The Bangladesh electoral commission said that the participation rate in the elections in 2024 was around 40% – although independent analysts think it is lower.
“The uprising has shown that a new political generation has emerged,” says Islam. “They have new aspirations. This generation rejects the old parties. We think there is a social demand for change.”
As part of this change, the NCP has already started to make its manifesto, emphasizing education, health care, climate change and the realization of the specific needs of young people in the country.
But Naomi Hossa, political analyst in Soas, University of London, believes that the PCN will face many challenges.
“If students obtain 25%, even 50% of the votes, it would not necessarily result in as many seats,” she says, “even in the fairest elections, because of the way in which the constituencies and the work of first potential policy, all the elections distort popular preferences in a way.”
A new generation VS new ideas
The NCP also faces reality that many young people are aligned on the student wings of BNP and Jamaat.
Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique Molla, spokesperson for Jamaat-E-Islami in the United Kingdom, says that even if the NCP targets young Bangladeshis, its party and the BNP also have student organizations.
“These organizations played a major role in the uprising,” he told NPR. “When the elections come, the Gen -Z generation will be divided – some will support the new political parties, while other supports Jamaat or BNP.”
Certain key figures from Gen-Z aligned with existing political parties include Shadik Kayem, the Jamaat student wing leader and a student from the University of Dhaka, as well as BNP students, Rakibul Islam Rakib and Nasir Uddin Nasir.
These, as well as many other eminent student activists, played a crucial role in the creation of the momentum that led to uprising. They continue to be central personalities to shape the future of the Bangladesh political landscape.
Abdul Moyeen Khan, a member of the BNP, the BNP, believes that the reforms of Islam and its party which is pressure are part of a continuous process and cannot necessarily be shaped by generational differences.
He says that it is not that the old guard will retire today, and the young generation will take over tomorrow. “This does not work in this way in society. Reformation is a continuous process. A new political generation is not defined by age – it is shaped by new ideas.”
However, says Hospius, the new student party has a large popular support and sympathy because of the uprising last year and the sacrifices that these young people have made.
“There is no reason to believe that if they work fairly well in the next elections and get some support, they will not build their movement over time and do not attract institutional support and the funding they need.”
Islam remains reserved when asked if it is seen as the future Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
“We believe in collective leadership,” he said. “I am the leader now, but I may not be in the future. What matters is our long -term vision. The uprising is only the beginning – we want to build on this.”
NPR contacted a representative of the Awami League to comment but received no response.