Bangladesh’s political landscape has shifted dramatically in less than two years. A student uprising that began with anger over public sector job quotas swelled into a nationwide revolt, brought down a long-standing prime minister, and reshaped the country’s electoral map. Now, that same movement has found its way into government.
When Tarique Rahman took the oath as Bangladesh’s 11th prime minister, just five days after his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept the first elections since the 2024 upheaval, he sent a clear signal. Two of the most recognisable faces of the protest movement, Nurul Haque Nur and Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki, were brought into his 49-member cabinet. Neither belongs to the BNP. Both were key figures in the agitation that toppled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
A return from exile and a broad-based cabinet
Rahman, son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, returned from 17 years in self-imposed exile in London to lead the South Asian nation. His party’s victory marked the BNP’s return to power after two decades.
Yet his cabinet list suggested more than a simple party comeback. By appointing Nur and Saki, both first-time parliamentarians and prominent protest leaders, Rahman acknowledged the political force unleashed by the 2024 uprising and the need to accommodate allies beyond his party’s ranks.
All junior ministers in the new administration are newcomers to government, reflecting the wider inexperience of a parliament reshaped by revolt and realignment.
Who is Nurul Haque Nur?
Nur, 34, hails from a lower-middle-class family in Patuakhali, a coastal district in southern Bangladesh. He won his constituency as a BNP-backed candidate of the Gono Odhikar Parishad, a rights-focused party he co-founded.
He first rose to national attention in 2018 as a student leader at the University of Dhaka during protests against the public sector job quota system. At the time, more than half of coveted government posts were reserved under various quotas. Demonstrators accused Hasina’s government of using the system to reward loyalists.
The pressure worked; the government abolished the quota scheme in 2018. But in June 2024, a court reinstated it. That decision reignited protests, which quickly expanded into a broader movement against what many described as Hasina’s “autocratic” rule. Her 15 years in power were marked, critics said, by widespread human rights violations and suppression of dissent.
Nur backed the renewed demonstrations and emerged as a key organiser during the July 2024 uprising that ultimately forced Hasina from office. In the period that followed, he moved closer to the BNP-led bloc, aligning on reform and governance.
Though his Gono Odhikar Parishad has struggled with internal splits and rifts, Nur has positioned himself as a leading voice of a youth-driven, anti-establishment current in Bangladeshi politics.
Who is Zonayed Saki?
Saki, 52, represents an older strand of dissent. He began his political journey as a student activist during the movement against military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who governed Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990.
In 1998, Saki became president of the Bangladesh Student Federation, a progressive student body. He later emerged as joint convener of the Ganosanhati Andolan, or People’s Solidarity Movement, a left-leaning party formed in the late 2000s.
Over the years, Saki built a reputation as a consistent progressive voice. He contested the 2015 Dhaka North City Corporation mayoral race and lost, and also ran unsuccessfully in the 2018 general election from a Dhaka constituency.
This time, however, he secured victory in Brahmanbaria-6 with a margin of 55,000 votes. After his win, he told supporters, “All parties in the anti-authoritarian movement must remain united in the national interest and respectful of democratic norms.” He also thanked BNP leaders for their backing.
Why did Rahman appoint them?
If we go by reports, political analysts in Bangladesh believe the appointments were expected. They reflect the BNP’s reliance on a broad anti-authoritarian alliance that came together during the uprising and held through the election.
By giving Nur and Saki junior ministerial roles, Rahman has recognised their movements without displacing senior BNP figures. The party’s own bench is deep; awarding a full cabinet portfolio to either man would have meant sidelining a veteran leader. The compromise allows Rahman to reward allies while maintaining internal party balance.
At the same time, their positions come with limited executive authority. As junior ministers, they will operate within ministries led by senior figures, suggesting that while the protest movement has entered government, it will not dominate it.
What about 2024 student leaders?
Not all faces of the uprising joined the ruling fold. The National Citizen Party (NCP), formed by prominent student leaders of the July 2024 movement, allied itself with the conservative Jamaat-e-Islami.
In its first electoral test, the NCP struggled. It won six of the 30 seats it contested. Its leader, Nahid Islam, 27, secured a seat, becoming one of the youngest members of the new parliament.
Now the NCP and Jamaat will sit in opposition, a new chapter for activists who, until recently, were leading street protests rather than parliamentary debates.
A government shaped by revolt
Rahman’s cabinet captures the contradictions of post-uprising Bangladesh. It blends seasoned party loyalists with figures forged in protest. It balances pragmatism with symbolism.
By bringing Nur and Saki into government, Rahman has acknowledged that the energy which toppled a prime minister cannot simply be absorbed or ignored. Whether that energy can be channelled into stable governance, or whether tensions between party hierarchy and protest politics will surface, remains one of the defining questions of Bangladesh’s new political era.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
