Bangladesh student leader aims to finish what uprising began
Bangladeshi students who overthrew autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina last year have formed a new political party to finish the work that began with her ouster, the group's leader told AFP.
Nahid Islam, 27, was one of the most visible faces of the youth-led protest campaign Students Against Discrimination, which brought down the curtain on Hasina's iron-fisted rule after 15 years.
The sociology graduate resigned last week from the interim administration that replaced her to lead the new National Citizens Party (NCP), arguing that Bangladesh's political establishment lacked the will for far-reaching reforms.
"They were not even interested in the reforms for which young people sacrificed their lives," Nahid told AFP.
"Because we have an obligation to implement what we pledged during the mass uprising and its aftermath, we decided to form a political party," he said.
More than 800 people were killed in last year's uprising, and Nahid was briefly detained alongside other student leaders in an unsuccessful effort to force them to call off the protests.
After Hasina's toppling, he accepted an invitation to join an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84.
Nahid's decision to helm the NCP necessitated his departure from an administration expected to act as a politically neutral umpire while preparing Bangladesh for fresh elections.
Polls are due by March next year and are widely expected to be won by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the country's oldest political forces.
Nahid said that even if he and his comrades could not form the next government, they had inaugurated a political force set to be influential for decades to come.
"Nobody knew that there would be an uprising, but it happened," he said.
"I sincerely hope and I believe that we are going to win this time. But this election is not the end of the world... Our target is to sustain this energy for another 50 or 100 or more years."
- 'Believe in inclusivity' -
The NCP is at loggerheads with its main rival over when the next national election should be staged, with the BNP arguing that fresh polls should be staged as soon as possible to empower a government with a public mandate.
"We are often accused of conspiring to delay the election, but that is not true," Nahid said.
But he added that it was "not possible" to stage an election while the country still faced issues maintaining law and order after Hasina's ouster.
His party are also campaigning for a simultaneous vote to establish a citizens' assembly, to be tasked with root and branch reform of Bangladesh's constitution aimed at ensuring a lasting democracy.
The NCP has sought to position itself as a big tent party, open to all people seeking to bring forward the spirit of last year's political tumult.
But ructions within the party have already spilt over into public view since its founding last month.
A gay rights activist was removed from the party's leadership committee days after it was formed following demands from right-wing groups in the Muslim-majority country.
"We believe in inclusivity, but there are certain boundaries set by religious and cultural norms," Nahid said, adding that the party still had an admirable record on diversity.
"We have brought women to the forefront and included representatives from all castes and creeds," he said. "We will strive to ensure that all citizens can enjoy their rights."
sa/gle/dhw
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Revealed: The spiralling cost of housing foreign-born tenants
Foreign-born heads of households in London cost Britain around £3.6 billion a year in discounted rent, Telegraph analysis suggests. Nearly half of all social housing in the capital, 48 per cent, is occupied by foreign-born heads of household, data from the 2021 census shows. This is well over the national average of 19 per households benefit from cheap rents which, when compared to private rent in London, average out at a discount of around £11,600 per year per household. Responding to the figures, Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'This research shows how the huge costs of mass, low-skilled migration are often hidden from the public. When you lift up the bonnet, it's clear that the level and composition of immigration have been hugely economically harmful for decades'. The figures also show some 35 per cent of working age foreign-born heads of households in London's social housing are either unemployed or economically inactive, despite living in one of the UK's most prosperous regions. The most recent ONS figures show that output per hour worked in the capital is approximately 26 per cent higher than the UK average. The figures cast further doubt on the UK's migration policies. Last year, the Office for Budget Responsibility found that low-paid migrant workers were costing taxpayers more than £150,000 each by the time they hit state pension age. The proportion of social housing allocated to foreign-born lead residents varies drastically across the capital. A majority of social housing is occupied by a foreign-born lead tenant in 14 of the city's 32 boroughs, with only 10 areas in the capital falling below the level of 40 per cent. Over 60 per cent of social housing in Brent and Westminster is allocated to foreign-born lead residents but this drops to 16 per cent in Havering. To come to the figure of £3.6 billion, The Telegraph matched rents for London's 'general needs' social housing stock across local authority and private registered providers with median private sector rents for properties with equivalent numbers of bedrooms. This suggested that socially rented properties were approximately £11,992 cheaper per year in 2021. Adjusted for estimated service charges, the net discount works out at £11,610. Added up across the city across the whole of the population, this suggests a total subsidy of approximately £7.7 billion. If households headed by foreign-born residents take up a proportional share of this sum, it would amount to roughly £3.6 billion per year in total discounts. Separate data from the English Housing Survey suggests that there is significant variation between ethnic groups with regards to social housing use. Roughly 48 per cent of Black Caribbean households, 40 per cent of Black African households, and 40 per cent of Bangladeshi households in England live in social housing, compared with 16 per cent of White British households, and 5 per cent of Chinese and Indian households. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
At least 15 arrested in NYC anti-ICE protest as thousands take to the street
At least 15 people were arrested at a massive anti-ICE protest in lower Manhattan Tuesday where shrieking, sign-holding demonstrators flooded the streets. Thousands of angry New Yorkers took to the streets outside Foley Square in the shadow of City Hall to protest the Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations ongoing in the city and throughout the country. Thousands of angry New Yorkers took to the streets outside Foley Square to protest ICE deportations, leading to at least 15 arrests. AFP via Getty Images Picketers carried placards reading 'Abolish ICE' and 'ICE out of New York!' and chanted phrases such as, 'Brick by brick, wall by wall, this racist system has got to fall!' At least 15 demonstrators were taken into custody by the NYPD near Broadway and Duane Street for obstructing traffic and not complying with orders to disperse, according to police sources. Notable speakers at the protest included Brooklyn Councilwoman Shahana Hanif and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Old robbery footage misrepresented amid LA anti-deportation protests
"Horrifying. LA shop owner attacked and tased by lawless rioters who destroy his store during LA's anti-American sovereignty riots," says a June 8, 2025 post on X. The post comes from Brandon Straka, one of more than 1,500 people who was convicted in relation to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and later pardoned by President Donald Trump. Similar posts spread across X amid several days of protests that Los Angeles officials said were initially peaceful but punctuated by scattered violence, with demonstrators torching cars and security forces firing tear gas. The tensions in Los Angeles, home to a large Latino population, were triggered by raids and dozens of arrests of what authorities say are undocumented migrants and gang members. They continued to escalate over several days, with Trump clashing with California leaders as he went over their heads to deploy the state's National Guard and active-duty US Marines to the city. The upheaval has seen some stores ransacked, according to local media reports and the Los Angeles Police Department, which urged downtown businesses and residents in a June 9 post on X to report any vandalism, damage or looting they observed (archived here and here). But the video shared by Straka and others online is several months old and unrelated to the anti-deportation protests. A reverse image search surfaced the same video in local news articles and posts dated to October 2024 (archived here, here and here). Those reports, and others covering the incident, described a street takeover during the early morning hours of October 6 in which a mob of people violently pushed their way inside a 7-Eleven in Anaheim and pillaged it, assaulting the clerk who tried to keep them out in the process (archived here). The video was credited to an Instagram user, "@carlos_kickback_3" (archived here). AFP reached out to the account for a comment, but no response was forthcoming. According to reports, the incident took place at a 7-Eleven on Knott Avenue in Anaheim (archived here). Geolocation of the footage confirms the location (archived here). The location is several miles away from the complex of federal and municipal buildings near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where the protests have centered -- and also from other protest sites in Paramount and Compton. AFP has debunked other misinformation about the tumult in Los Angeles here.
