Following the success of the July-August revolution, the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement leaders plan to form a new political party and aim to participate in the next national parliament election.
While the name and leadership of the party remain undecided, sources confirm that the party will be established within two to three months.
Sources said the young advisers who are now members of the Chief Adviser’s Advisory Council, the other key coordinators of the Anti-Discriminatory Students Movement and the top leaders of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee will form the political party together.
A Jatiya Nagorik Committee source revealed that preparations are underway to announce the new party in January, with Adviser Mahfuj Alam likely to lead it after resigning from his current role.
Efforts are also being made to include notable young leaders from various political parties, including the BNP, in the student-led initiative.
The new party aims to be youth-driven, incorporating civil society members and representatives from diverse social groups.
Even after the party’s formation, the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement and the Jatiya Nagarik Committee will remain active as separate entities.
Planning began in September
Sources said discussions on forming a new political party began in September, following the July-August mass uprising.
On September 8, a 56-member committee of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee was announced.
The committee focuses on state reconstruction, the abolition of fascist structures and achieving a new political framework for a "new Bangladesh."
Around the same time, leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement started visiting district levels and formed committees in approximately 15 districts.
The Jatiya Nagorik Committee also formed more than 20 committees across the country and has set a target of forming one in every thana by next December.
Sources claimed that the aim of all of this effort was to form a new political party.
What leaders say
Requesting anonymity, a top leader of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee told Dhaka Tribune: “There is no confusion that a political party is going to form in the next two or three months, but the call of forming the party will come from another side, not from the Jatiya Nagorik Committee.
“Many leaders from the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement shall participate in the party.”
He added that the party would be open for everyone to join except anyone from the fascist government. “There is a chance, though it is not confirmed, that top leaders from the country's existing political parties can join the political party as well.”
Another top leader, requesting not to be named, said: “The Jatiya Nagorik Committee is going to act as a pressure group as it is now. It will have no connection with the party.”
A key coordinator of the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement, Abdul Kader, said: “We have said at the beginning of this platform that the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement will work as a national platform. It will work on any national issue as an inclusive platform. It will never become a political party.
“As we have seen, the platform of the 2018 quota reform movement transformed into a political party. However, this 2024 platform will not become a political party—there is no scope for that. If any member of this platform wishes to join an existing political party or a new youth platform is formed, he or she is free to do so. But this banner will never directly evolve into a political party. As long as this banner is needed, it will remain a united, non-political platform, working with everyone during any national crisis.”
Earlier, following the anti-quota movement of 2018, former Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) VP Nurul Haque Noor, along with eminent economist Reza Kibria, formed a new political party, Gono Odhikar Parishad in 2021.
However, within a few months, disagreements led to a split, with Reza Kibria and Noor causing the division of the party into two factions.
