Nahid Islam, an advisor to the interim government and a student protest leader, has made it to US-based TIME magazine’s list of 100 most influential youths shaping global dynamics in 2024.

The TIME100 Next list, in its fifth year, has majority of the selected individuals from colour backgrounds while over half are women, signifying the capacity to influence does not depend on traditional prerequisites amid shifting global leadership trends.

“Nahid Islam didn’t have to get any older than 26 to help bring down one of the most powerful people in the world,” said the article published on TIME.

One of many countrywide anti-fascist protest leaders, he became more widely known after being tortured by the country’s notorious intelligence services, the article adds.

Not long after, he delivered the students’ one-point demand: Hasina must resign. “No one thought she could be toppled,” TIME quoted Nahid as saying.

Hasina fled the country on 5 August following weeks of demonstrations.

The biggest challenge might still lie ahead for Nahid and Bangladesh’s current interim government: repairing the democratic system that was eroded during the 15-year reign of an increasingly authoritarian government, the article concluded.

BDST: 1918 HRS, OCT 03, 2024
MSK