Students in Bangladesh who helped to overthrow govt unveil new political party

DHAKA - Bangladeshi students who played a key role in overthrowing the government 2024 unveiled a new political party on Feb 28, the latest outfit to join the fray ahead of expected elections.

The party includes key organisers from the powerful Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group that spearheaded the uprising which

ousted iron-fisted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina

in August.

The new Jatiya Nagarik Party – or National Citizen’s Party in English – kickstarted its journey in front of the National Parliament on Feb 28, joined by thousands of supporters who wore green-and-red bandanas, the colours of Bangladesh’s national flag.

Mr Nahid Islam, a former adviser to the interim government, is

leading the new political party

as the convener, while Mr Akhtar Hossain will be the member secretary.

Mr Islam said the new party will be a “democratic, egalitarian, people’s party”.

“A Second Republic is now the need of the hour. And for this we need the constituent assembly election first,” he said.

Mr Hossain said their party will strive to attain “social justice, and human dignity”.

“The youth want a new constitution, and the context is now set,” Mr Akhtar said.

Organisers also screened documentaries depicting the events that led to the end of Ms Hasina’s rule.

Among the attendees was Mr Mohammad Shahin Alam, 37, who lost his teenaged son during the mass uprising.

Alam said he hoped the new party would ensure “justice for the bereaved families”.

Ms Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has defied an arrest warrant from Dhaka to face charges that include accusations of crimes against humanity.

Dr Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning microfinance pioneer who

heads the caretaker government,

has said that general elections will take place in late 2025 or early 2026.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Ms Hasina’s long-time opponent, is widely expected to dominate the elections. AFP