Consider This from NPR - Bangladesh's student protestors are now helping to run the country

Episode Date: August 20, 2024

Earlier this month, student protestors filled the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, in opposition to a controversial quota system for government jobs.Authorities then cracked down on demonstrators, blocking internet access, imposing a curfew and issuing police officers a shoot-on-sight order. In just over a month, more than 600 people have been killed. And as the protests escalated, the demonstrations started to become about much more than just the quota system.Eventually, students were able to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.The students who ousted Hasina are now helping to lead Bangladesh. "We youth are not only the generation of Facebook, YouTube and Instagram," says 19-year-old protestor Mumtahana Munir Mitti. "We also love our country. And we also love to participate in [the] rebuilding of our country."For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There's never been a summer quite like this in Bangladesh. In a few short months, the country's future has transformed. In July, student protesters took to the streets and led demonstrations against a controversial quota system for government jobs. Demonstrators said the quota system favored people with connections to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party. Authorities began to crack down on protesters. said the quota system favored people with connections to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party. Authorities began to crack down on protesters. The government blocked internet and mobile access. Police imposed a curfew and a shoot-on-sight order.

What started out as peaceful protests escalated into violence. In just over a month, more than 600 people have been killed. We want justice! Justice! Justice! We want justice! Justice! Justice! The demonstrations soon were about much more than job quotas. They became a movement to oust Sheikh Hasina. The quota was really the tip of the iceberg. It could have been dealt with, but once it wasn't, then the whole tinderbox exploded. That is Shahidul Alam, a photojournalist, writer, and activist based in Dhaka, the capital.

As unrest in the country continued, on August 4th, almost 100 people were killed in a police crackdown, causing outrage. And just a day later, Hasina was forced to resign. She fled the country. Protesters overran her residence. 19-year-old Mantaha Manir Mithi has been painting revolutionary murals all over Dhaka. And she says her generation was long dismissed. We youth are not only the generation of Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. And she says her generation was long dismissed. Consider this. From the classroom to the government, the same students who ousted the prime minister are now helping lead Bangladesh. We'll speak to one of them about the country's future.

From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. It's Consider This from NPR. Bangladesh has a new interim leader in Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, and many who have joined his government are the very students who led the historic demonstrations leading to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. Earlier this month, Nahid Islam was a sociology graduate student at the University of Dhaka. Now he is leading two ministries within Bangladesh's interim government. He is minister of posts, telecommunications, and IT, and he is minister of information and broadcasting. I have to ask you, just a few weeks ago, you were in the middle of getting your master's degree. You're 26 years old, right? And now you are helping lead your country's interim government. What have the last

two weeks been like for you? It feels good to me. But we have lost our brothers and sisters. They are martyred by fascist regime and many people are still injured. I am visiting the hospitals. I am visiting the family of martyrs. And I have responsibilities on my shoulder to reconstruct the country. And the regular activities are also going on. Let me ask you, when Sheikh Hasina was still in power, you were arrested. You have said that you were tortured by that government. So what does it feel like now to see her gone and now to be part of the group of people leading Bangladesh? I feel like a free man. I feel that I have the freedom now. I have the human dignity. I feel that I have the human rights now. And Sheikh Hasina's government was an authoritarian and fascist government. And now a free movement has created in Bangladesh and I can breathe in the free air of Bangladesh. The free air of Bangladesh. And I know that you're joining me for this interview from Bangladesh.

It's past midnight over there. It sounds like your days have been extremely long. Can you just walk us through one of your typical days as a minister of two different ministries? Yes, it is a difficult time for me. I have to work 16 hours in a day, but I have to work for our youth and the future and the truth and the justice. And can I ask, why are you are many ministries. And there are also many advisors who also have to take two or three ministries. Wow. So you are not the only one in the interim government who is doing more than one job at the time. Yes. Well, an interim government is not exactly meant to enact new policies because you are not elected officials. So what are you hoping to accomplish before your country holds elections? Yes, we want a new political settlement,

which will pave the way for democratic transition, party democracy and rule of law. We also envision for reconstructing the constitution. Our constitution is one man centric and the prime minister has all of the power, maximum of the power. So we have to reform the constitution. We have to reform the election commissions. And we have to eradicate corruptions. We have to reconstruct the country system and government system first. Then we can go for an election. There are concerns about this interim government being run by young people who don't have a lot of political experience, young people like yourself, how do you respond to those concerns?

We represented the people. The students led the movement and the revolution. The political forces, existing forces of Bangladesh fail. As a student can lead a movement, lead a revolution, a student can also form a government, can also lead the government. Well, Minister Islam, if we called you back in one year from today, tell me what you hope you could tell us about Bangladesh at that point in the future. The future Bangladesh, I want to see a democratic Bangladesh and party democracy and the rule of law and justice. And we also say that we want a new political settlement in Bangladesh. That was Nahid Islam, a minister in the interim government of Bangladesh. That was Nahid Islam, a minister in the interim government

of Bangladesh. This episode was produced by Janaki Mehta and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Justine Kennan. NPR international correspondent Dia Hadid contributed reporting. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's Consider This from NPR.

I'm Elsie Chang.