Nahid Islam is the founding Convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), a political party formed in the spirit of building a new Bangladesh in the aftermath of the anti-dictatorship July Uprising. Previously, he served as an Adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology in the interim government led by Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, representing the student community of Bangladesh.

On June 5, 2024, Nahid Islam led the first program of the quota reform movement. Later, on July 1, when the continuous programs of the anti-discrimination student movement began, his name topped the list of coordinators for that platform. As a student of Sociology at the University of Dhaka, Nahid emerged as one of the most prominent faces of the entire student community in Bangladesh during this movement.

Nahid’s nickname is Fahim. He was born in Dhaka in 1998 to a teacher father and a homemaker mother. The elder of two brothers, Nahid is married.

He passed his Secondary School Certificate (SSC) from South Banasree Model High School, Dhaka, in 2014, and his Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) from Government Science College in 2016. He was admitted to the Department of Sociology at the University of Dhaka after excelling in the highly competitive entrance examination. He completed his bachelor’s degree in 2022 and is currently pursuing his master’s.

Nahid has always had a strong interest in politics. From the beginning of his university life, he actively participated in political discussions and gatherings. His political activism began with his active involvement in the 2018 quota reform movement at Dhaka University, led by the Bangladesh General Students’ Rights Protection Council, with whose leaders he maintained close ties.

After 28 years, the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections were held in 2019. Nahid contested for the position of Cultural Affairs Secretary from the Nurul Haque–Rashed Khan–Faruk Hasan panel but could not win in what was widely regarded as a controlled and questionable election. Lacking interest in traditional party politics at that time, he did not join the political initiatives of those leaders, though he remained active in various just movements on campus.

Nahid played a role in protests following the murder of Buet student Abrar Fahad in 2019 and in resisting the terrorist activities of the banned Chhatra League at Dhaka University. In 2020, he joined Nasiruddin Patwari, now Convener of the National Citizen Committee, in a 55-day sit-in at the base of the Raju Memorial Sculpture to protest border killings. Fellow activist and later interim government adviser Mahfuz Alam also participated. During that time, a newspaper titled Katatara was published under Mahfuz Alam’s editorship.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Nahid and his peers engaged in discussions and debates on political culture, student movements, religion, and related issues. Under Mahfuz Alam’s leadership, they began holding the “Thursday Adda” in secret. Nahid supported himself by teaching at coaching centers and tutoring privately while remaining politically active. This period saw a focus on cultural activities, aiming to create a political space through organizations and connect students to it. Publications such as Purbo Pokkho and Ranopa were launched, alongside reading circles like “Thursday Adda” and “Roshik Adda” and an academic forum called “Choychokro.” There was also a library named “Rastro Kalpo.”

In late 2023, their efforts led to the emergence of the non-partisan student organization Democratic Student Power at Dhaka University. This centrist group emphasized politics of responsibility and empathy. On October 4, 2023, Nahid became the Central Member Secretary of the organization, with former DUCSU Social Service Secretary Akhter Hossain as Convener.

From its inception, Democratic Student Power focused more on intellectual discussions and direct engagement with students rather than street programs, aiming to nurture a politically conscious generation. Members of this generation went on to lead the 2024 quota reform movement, the anti-discrimination student movement, and eventually the student–citizen July Uprising.

At the height of the uprising, on August 3, Nahid announced the historic single-point demand for the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina government and the abolition of the fascist system at the Central Shaheed Minar.

After the uprising, Nahid joined the interim government as an Adviser. On August 9, he was given responsibility for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, and from August 16, he also took charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

In 2024, TIME magazine included Nahid Islam in its “TIME100 Next” list of the world’s 100 emerging leaders. Published on October 2, the magazine described him as “one of the two Gen-Z advisers in Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus’s interim government” and noted that “before turning 26, he played a role in removing one of the most powerful figures in the world from office. After enduring torture by the country’s intelligence agencies, he became widely known, and soon after, he put forward a single demand on behalf of the students: Hasina must resign.”

After serving for seven months in the interim government, Nahid resigned from his advisory post on February 25, 2025. On February 28, he assumed the role of Convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), one of the leading political parties in Bangladesh after the July movement. He is currently one of the most prominent and popular figures in Bangladesh’s political sphere.