In the shadow of Bangladesh’s parliament building, crowds poured into the streets, many adorned in the red and green of the national flag. Just six months ago, these same roads had been a battleground littered with bullet casings and bodies, as students fought against armed police to bring down the authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina.This time, students who successfully overthrew the prime minster were here for a different purpose: to launch their Jatiya Nagorik or National Citizens’ party (NCP) in the presence of thousands of supporters.“During the July revolution there were slogans of ‘Who will be the alternative?’” said the new party’s leader, Nahid Islam, to loud cheers from the crowd. “Today, with this new party, we are offering the alternative.”In the six months since the student-led revolution toppled Hasina in early August, vast changes have taken place in Bangladesh. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel prize winning Bangladeshi economist, was brought back to head an appointed interim government tasked with restoring democracy, which was obliterated under Hasina’s oppressive government. Three student leaders, including Islam, were brought in by Yunus to serve as advisers to the interim government.Freedom of speech returned to Bangladesh and political parties that had spent the 15 years of Hasina’s rule being routinely targeted were allowed to function freely once again.Initially, those in the Yunus government had spoken of being in power for several years, in order to see through their ambitious roster of reforms. However, mounting pressure has led him to announce that elections – promised to be free and fair, for the first time in decades – will probably take place in December.With Hasina’s Awami League party in tatters and its leadership in jail or hiding abroad, it is widely predicted that the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) will sweep any upcoming polls. However, the launch of the NCP by the student leaders – many of whom enjoy popularity among the country’s vast youth – could seismically shift the electoral landscape.‘We have had enough bloodshed’Speaking at the party’s launch, the newly appointed NCP leaders said their intention was nothing short of building a new Bangladesh, what they are calling a “second republic”. Among their ambitious pledges are creating an entirely new political system and rewriting the constitution, arguing that Bangladesh has never truly been free or democratic since independence in 1971.Getting justice, particularly for those killed during the July revolution, is also at the core of their purpose. A recent UN report on the July uprising found evidence of grave human rights abuses and possible crimes against humanity committed on Hasina’s orders as she tried to crush the unrest, with about 1,400 people killed.Among those who spoke at the party’s launch was Nowsher Ali, the father of six-year-old Zabir who was among those who died in the police violence. “We have
Building a ‘second republic’: students who led Bangladesh revolution launch political party
