Student-advisers in interim government of Bangladesh gaining higher profile

Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

India’s “strong protest” in response to the now deleted Facebook post carrying an enlarged map of Bangladesh that included neighbouring Indian territories, has drawn attention to the student-advisers of the interim government of Bangladesh. The Facebook post that drew MEA’s response appeared on the page of Mahfuj Alam, a student-adviser who was inducted into the Advisory Council of the interim government in November.

Mahfuj Alam came to the limelight when he accompanied Professor Yunus during his September tour of the United States. At a Clinton Global Initiative event in New York, Prof. Yunus introduced Mr. Alam saying, “He is known to be the brain behind the whole revolution.” Subsequently, Mr. Alam has been spotted in several important engagements of Prof. Yunus including the latest visit to Cairo where Bangladesh participated in the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation summit. During this week’s visit to Cairo he posted photographs of him meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and an adviser of the Turkish government.

Mr. Alam was appointed into the top level of Advisers to the interim government on November 11 and does not have any particular Ministry under him but he has made his presence felt in the power structure with his frequent remarks on social media that increasingly has set the public discourse in Dhaka. Soon after being sworn in to the top-most body of advisers of the interim government, he announced that the portrait of the founder of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been removed from Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban, the official residence of the President of Bangladesh.

In a post on December 4, Mr. Alam gave a hint of the prevailing sentiment among the student-advisers in the interim government saying, “Indophiles, or Indian allies in this part of Bengal, are thinking that things are going to cool down and bypassing the July uprising and the fascist atrocities won’t cost them anything. It’s a wrong idea. People are watching everything!”

Mahfuj Alam is one of the several student-coordinators of the student-people uprising of July-August that overthrew the Awami League government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. While he became an adviser in November, others who joined the interim government in August are Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan. Nahid Islam is in charge of Post and Telegraph and Information and Broadcasting Ministries, while Asif Mahmud is in charge of Youth and Sports and Local Government Ministries.

The three student-advisers have risen from the ranks of student-coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement (Boishommo Birodhi Chhatra Andolan), the steering body of the July-August uprising. Apart from the three other two leading student-coordinators who have widespread following among the youth are Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam – both known for their fiery speeches.

Both participated in a large rally in Dhaka on December 10 on the occasion of the International Human Rights day and gave a hint of the prevailing mood among the advisers of the Yunus government. On the previous day Dhaka had hosted the Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri who was the highest ranking official from the Government of India to visit Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5. Mr. Misri had met his counterpart Md. Jashim Uddin and called on Prof. Yunus during his visit and both sides urged for “constructive” bilateral relation. However, the student-advisers next day said that Bangladesh should take firm position while engaging India. Addressing the gathering, Hasnat Abdullah said the days of “bent knee” diplomacy are over for Bangladesh and that Dhaka will confront India on important issues like the presence of Ms. Hasina on Indian soil.

“Sheikh Hasina carried out the policy of murder, kidnapping for years and we want to tell India that it should not become the safehouse for terror suspects. Bent knee relation with India will not be allowed. Relation with India will have to be confrontational,” Hasnat Abdullah said. At the same rally Sarjis Alam said, “India’s relation with Bangladesh will be possible if the relation is one of respect.”

Sarjis Alam is also the General Secretary of the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation, an outfit started by the interim government to help the families of the victims of police crackdown of July 2024. The large crowd at the rally and widespread social media engagement of the student-advisers of the interim government and the student-coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement indicate the growing influence that they currently have over Bangladesh.