Staff Correspondent

28 February 2025 will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most pivotal days for Bangladesh. On this day, a new youth-led political party emerged to go beyond the country’s two political spheres and was met with such spontaneous vibrant public gatherings hardly seen in the past. In this regard, the National Citizen Party (NCP) was not simply a political party, but rather the outcome of the general people’s aspirations for rebuilding the country more than 54 years after gaining independence.

The youths have taken up the responsibility on behalf of the general people as they do not trust anyone else to get the job done. In last year’s July-August uprising, a huge number of fearless youths unaffiliated with political parties took to the streets and risked their lives to oust a formidable dictatorship.

Afterwards, they saw that their hard-fought gains and dreams of a new fascism-free Bangladesh were gradually fading. Therefore, they decided to form their own political party, contest general elections, and execute the state reform tasks themselves to end the cycle of autocratic practices forever. The “do it yourself” decision is the inevitable result of a history of upsets and setbacks.

Youths have made leading contributions in all the previous mass movements across the country – the 1952 Language Movement, the 1971 Liberation War and the movement against military dictator Huseyn Muhammad Ershad in 1990.

Unfortunately, all movements failed to bring lasting changes and rid the country of tyranny. This convinced many to shun politics altogether, and rather focus on personal income growth.

In the 1980s, students no longer showed interest in politics, as they did in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and instead strived hard for getting good jobs, overseas study opportunities, and running businesses. In the early 1980s, then-president Lt Gen Ziaur Rahman, the founder of the BNP, took the initiative to encourage students to join politics. But his untimely death in 1981 dashed all hopes.

In the years afterwards, student leaders got engaged in occupying campuses through the show of force, discouraging merited students from entering politics. As a result, the following decades saw student politics bereft of merit and quality. Sycophants, swindlers, terrorists and thugs started taking dominant positions in the political landscape.

However, since 2014, a turnaround has been evident as students and youths have had enough. In 2018, an unprecedented series of incidents happened when students from all categories of higher education institutions marched together disregarding their backgrounds and social positions.

The movement was against the disproportionate quota system in government jobs, which unfairly discriminated against merited candidates and allegedly even served as a cover for the then-ruling Awami League to include its favourite recruits in the administration. The movement proved to be a success as the then undemocratic Awami League government gave in before the students’ united movement.

In the same year, another pivotal movement occurred. In the road safety movement, students as young as 13 years old took to the streets demanding reforms in the road transport sector, plagued by state-sponsored corruption and nepotism.

In this case too, the powerful Awami League had to concede defeat. The two student-led movements of 2018 served as a strong inspiration for last year’s uprising.

In 2024, the Awami League itself paved the way for the mass demonstrations against it by walking back on its 2018 pledge to reform the job quota system.

Many may think the uprising was just a fleeting emotional outburst. However, the second student movement for quota reform in 2024 was not merely about a single demand. It stemmed from a deeper aspiration to build a new Bangladesh — free from discrimination, nepotism and corruption, where merit and competence would be valued above all.

This desire for change eventually led to the fall of the authoritarian regime. But after the regime’s fall, those dreams began to fade as the old bureaucratic system and traditional power structures remained intact, threatening to hijack the youth’s vision.

In response, the youth once again united, realising that without a new political framework, their dreams would never materialise. This realisation gave birth to the NCP — a bold call for a new political order. Whether the party will succeed or not remains to be seen, but its emergence has sent a clear message – the youth are ready to lead the transformation of the nation.

At a time when global leadership is in crisis and young leaders struggle to step forward, the formation of NCP has positioned Bangladesh as a beacon of hope. The journey of building and expanding a political party is undeniably difficult, especially in a landscape dominated by black money and muscle power. Yet the youth’s determination offers hope, proving through the July Revolution and the 28 October mass gathering that they have the power to unite and drive change.

The massive support for the NCP’s launch on 28 February signals the people’s desire for change. However, this journey will not be easy. The party will face criticism and scrutiny. It must maintain transparency, accountability and integrity in both words and actions to convince people that the party is different from the old political forces.

If the NCP can uphold these principles, it could not only reshape Bangladesh’s political landscape but also force other parties to rethink their outdated methods. Whether the NCP comes to power or not is up to the people, one thing is certain – it has already set the country on a path towards a new kind of politics.