Bangladesh will go to the polls on Thursday, February 12. It will be the country's first election since the massive political upheaval of 2024 that brought down the Sheikh Hasina government, leading to her ouster from the nation.
In August 2024, student-led protests, driven largely by Gen-Z activists, swept across the country. The movement forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down. Since then, an interim government under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus has been running the country.
After Muhammad Yunus took charge, many student leaders were brought into the government as advisors. For many people, this was a clear break from the old politics. Since the 1990s, Bangladesh has been shaped by rivalry between powerful political families. This step was seen as a whiff of fresh air. But where are the student representatives in Yunus's government now?
Where are the student leaders now?
Once they led protests on the streets. Now, many of them are in the election fray.
Several of these former student leaders are now linked to the National Citizen Party (NCP). Nahid Islam, one of the main faces of the protests, is now the NCP chief. He briefly served in the interim government under Muhammad Yunus and is contesting from Dhaka-11. Sarjis Alam, once a Dhaka University student activist, is now the party's chief organiser for the northern region. Nasiruddin Patwary, the party's chief coordinator.
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Not all stayed with the party. Tasnim Jara, another protest leader, quit the NCP over its alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami. She is now contesting independently. A doctor by profession, she had returned from Britain to join the movement.
Abdullah, who once convened Students Against Discrimination, is now an NCP organiser. He is contesting from Cumilla-4.
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Bangladesh votes tomorrow
As Bangladesh votes tomorrow, the stakes are high. The BNP, now led by Tarique Rahman, is hoping to return to power in the wake of Khaleda Zia's death and the political churn that followed. At the same time, the NCP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and their allies are pushing hard to expand their space and shape the country's next chapter. The results will decide not just who forms the government, but what direction Bangladesh takes after more than a year of deep political change.
