Student leader to kingmaker - Nahid Islam becomes vital cog in Bangladesh politics

Nahid Islam, one of the main coordinators of the anti-quota protests that eventually led to the resignation of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, has emerged as a key figure in the formation of an interim government in the country.

It was reported that Islam, along with Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, was locked in significant discussions Tuesday evening on the structure of the new government following Hasina's departure from the country.

On Monday, as chaos ruled the streets of Dhaka, Islam had told mediapersons that he will propose an interim national government "within the next 24 hours" which will also have a fair representation from the student community and members of the civil society.

A student of Sociology at Dhaka University, 26-year-old Islam was in October 2023 made the Secretary of the 31-member central committee of a student body that also included Akhtar Hossain, a former social services secretary of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union.

As a student-led protest kicked off following the decision of the High Court division of Supreme Court in June 2024 to cancel a 2018 government declaration abolishing all quotas for first and second-class government jobs in Bangladesh, Islam, sporting the Bangladesh flag as a bandana, gradually became the poster boy of the movement.

In a televised address to the nation on the evening of July 17 following deaths and casualties during clashes between protestors and police, Hasina repeatedly urged the students "not to fall prey to incitements by the vested quarters" who were bent on "unleashing a reign of terror taking advantage of the situation".

Two days later, Islam, who had severely criticised the Hasina-led Awami League party, was reportedly abducted, released and abducted again a week later.

Meanwhile, the government formed a judicial inquiry committee headed by a High Court Justice to investigate the violence and deaths. Two Cabinet ministers were also assigned to hold talks with the protesting students.

However, a reign of terror was unleashed across the country in the following weeks which the ruling government said was supported by anti-state elements and led by the armed cadres of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its "extremist ally" the Jamaat-E-Islami along with its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS).

The Hasina government believed that the kind of "systematic vandalization" of public properties required "adequate expertise" which the students do not possess.

However, as things ultimately panned out on Monday with Hasina leaving the country, Islam was hailed as a hero by thousands of supporters all over the country.

Within the next few hours, he was also engaged in discussions with the country's Army chief and making efforts to convince Muhammad Yunus to become the head of the interim government in the country.