Bangladesh Crisis: Meet 3 student leaders who led protests to oust Sheikh Hasina

Sheikh Hasina has resigned as Bangladesh's Prime Minister and departed Dhaka. Her exit came after hundreds of people were killed in a crackdown on demonstrations that began as protests against job quotas and swelled into a movement demanding her downfall. There are three important student leaders behind forcing Hasina to leave her country. They started the movement from a university campus and toppled the government of Sheikh Hasina who was in power for 15 years.

Who are these three student leaders? Their names are Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, and Abu Bakar Majumdar. The leaders of the anti-discrimination student movement have proposed an interim government led by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, in a bid to address Bangladesh's ongoing challenge. Earlier on Monday night, Nahid had announced that an outline for an interim government would be formulated within the next 24 hours, as per Dhaka Tribune.

Who is Nahid Islam?

Nahid Islam is the biggest face of the student movement. He is a Dhaka University student in the Sociology Department. He is known for his work as a human rights defender.
He serves as one of the National Coordinators for the 'Students Against Discrimination' Movement. Nahid has been vocal against Sheikh Hasina's party, the Awami League. He accused the police that he was picked up on the morning of July 20. However, the police denied this.

Who is Asif Mahmud?

He is a student of Language Studies at Dhaka University. He became a part of the nationwide movement that started against reservation in June. Asif was also among those detained by the Detective Branch on July 26. He was also detained from the hospital during treatment. Security reasons were also cited behind Asif's detention.

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Who is Abu Bakar Majumdar?

He is also a part of the ouster of Sheikh Hasina from power. He is a student of Geography Department at Dhaka University. According to The Front Line Defender, he also works on civil rights and human rights.

After the High Court's decision on reservation on June 5, Bakar along with his friends started the Students Against Discrimination Movement. He strongly opposed giving reservation in government jobs to the relatives of 'freedom fighters'.