International Desk

The university students, who led last year’s anti-fascist mass uprising, will form a political party to protect their gains from the uprising, Prof Muhammad Yunus has said in an interview with UK-based Financial Times.

One of the possibilities in the emerging election-related politics is the students themselves will form a party, Yunus told Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator of the Financial Times during a podcast. The interview was taken during Yunus’ recent visit to Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum.

The transcription of the interview was published online Thursday.

The young uprising leaders are campaigning and organising across the country to form their own party and prepare for the next general elections.

The students are not eager for political careers, but feel compelled to join politics, fearing that a repetition of abusive power structure will dash their hopes of building a “discrimination free Bangladesh,” Yunus told Gideon Rachman.

“Young people are joining or creating political party [only] under the circumstances. This is needed because they have to protect the things they have earned by their blood. Otherwise, they will be taken away by all the people who are looking for opportunity to repeat the previous kind of administration and so on. That’s our political kind of environment with Bangladesh,” Yunus said.

He also uttered words of caution for those looking up to the students.

“Maybe in the process of forming party, they will fall apart. That’s also a danger because politics is getting in, all the politicians will penetrate into them. So we don’t know whether they can remove themselves from the politics that we have in the country. This is the kind of chance we have to take.”

“But the students are ready,” he said confidently.