Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus reveals brains behind student movement that led to Sheikh Hasina’s ouster

Dr Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, revealed the “brains” behind the populist movement that ended ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 16-year rule.

Yunus, speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, introduced three key figures from the student-led ‘Monsoon Revolution,’ which toppled the Awami League government.

“They shook the whole nation by their speeches, by their dedication, their commitment,” Yunus said, while sharing the stage with former US President Bill Clinton. He added that the students had risked their lives and refused to back down during the protests.

The Nobel laureate specifically named Mahfuz Alam, his special assistant, as the “brains behind the whole revolution.”

“He denies it repeatedly. He says not me, many others. But that is how he is recognised, that he is the brain behind the whole thing,” Yunus said.

The interim government adviser noted that the revolution was not a sudden outburst but a meticulously designed and disciplined movement.

“It was organised in such a way that no single leader could be singled out or arrested,” Yunus explained, calling this aspect a key strength of the uprising.

The student-led protests, which began in July 2024, were ignited by the reinstatement of a controversial job quota system, a decision that revived long-standing frustrations among students and the broader public.

The quota system, previously abolished in 2018 after student protests, sparked widespread demonstrations over several weeks, ultimately leading to the collapse of Hasina’s government.

The violent crackdown on protesters by Hasina’s government resulted in nearly 450 deaths and the detention of thousands, including hundreds of students. Despite attempts by Hasina and her allies to suppress the movement by accusing opposition parties of exploiting the protests, the sustained student uprising forced her resignation.

Several prominent student activists were later given influential positions in the military-backed caretaker regime. Notably, Nahid Islam, a 26-year-old sociology student and face of the protests, was appointed as an adviser in the information and telecommunications ministry. Mahfuz Alam, meanwhile, was named special assistant to Yunus shortly after Hasina’s ouster.

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