Dhaka, Feb 28 (IANS) Nahid Islam, a controversial student leader and one of the main coordinators of the anti-quota protests that eventually led to the fall of Awami League government led by former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year, announced the formation of a new political party in the country, in Dhaka on Friday.
Nahid, who led the Student Against Discrimination (SAD) movement that gripped Bangladesh last year, stated that the new party will be known as the ‘Jatiya Nagorik Party’, or the National Citizen Party.
Along with Asif Mahmud, another key figure in the SAD, Nahid was given a key role in the interim government that was formed under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus after Hasina’s ouster.
Having served as the telecommunications, information technology and posts ministry Advisor, he recently resigned from the Cabinet to launch a new political party.
“We will build the state keeping Bangladesh and the interest of the people of Bangladesh at the front,” the local media quoted Nahid as saying at the party launch event on Friday.
As a so-called “student activist”, Nahid had emerged as a key figure in the formation of the interim government in the country. He not only held several rounds of discussions with Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman after Hasina’s departure from Dhaka but is also believed to have played a major role in convincing Yunus to join the interim set up.
Since his ascendance in the Bangladesh political spectrum, Nahid has made several attempts to cover up the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, especially Hindus.
Analysts believe that his entry into the political arena will further complicate the already chaotic political scene in Bangladesh as the new party will try to capitalise on the mass support that it had received during the protest movement last year.
–IANS
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