AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Just a couple of weeks ago, student protesters filled the streets of Dhaka in Bangladesh. They managed to successfully drive out the country's longest serving prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. One of the students leading the historic demonstrations was Nahid Islam. Earlier this month, he was a sociology graduate student at the University of Dhaka. Now he is leading two ministries within Bangladesh's interim government. He is minister of posts, telecommunications and IT, and he is minister of information and broadcasting. Nahid Islam, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. And thank you so much for taking some time out of your very busy schedule now.
NAHID ISLAM: Thank you very much for inviting me.
CHANG: So I have to ask you - just a few weeks ago, you were in the middle of getting your master's degree. You're 26 years old, right? And now you are helping lead your country's interim government. What have the last two weeks been like for you?
ISLAM: It feels good to me, but we have lost our brothers and sisters. They are martyred by fascist regime, and many people are still injured. I am visiting the hospitals. I am visiting the family of martyrs. And I have responsibilities on my shoulder to reconstruct the country and to the regular activities are also going on.
CHANG: Let me ask you, when Sheikh Hasina was still in power, you were arrested. You have said that you were tortured by that government. So what does it feel like now to see her gone and now to be part of the group of people leading Bangladesh?
ISLAM: I feel like a free man. I feel that I have the freedom now. I have the human dignity. I feel that I have the human rights now. And Sheikh Hasina's government was a authoritarian and fascist government. And now a free moment has created in Bangladesh, and I can breathe in the free air of Bangladesh.
CHANG: The free air of Bangladesh. And I know that you're joining me for this interview from Bangladesh. It's past midnight over there. It sounds like your days have been extremely long. Can you just walk us through one of your typical days as a minister of two different ministries?
ISLAM: Yes, it is a difficult time for me. I have to work 16 hours in a day, but I have to work for our youth and the future and the truth and the justice.
CHANG: And can I ask, why are you leading two ministries instead of just one?
ISLAM: Because in the interim government, the members are only 17 or 18, and there are many ministries. And there are also many advisers who also have to take two or three ministries.
CHANG: Wow, so you are not the only one in the interim government who is doing more than one job at the time?
ISLAM: Yes.
CHANG: Well, an interim government is not exactly meant to enact new policies because you are not elected officials. So what are you hoping to accomplish before your country holds elections?
ISLAM: Yes, we want a new political settlement, which will pave the way for a democratic transition, party democracy and rule of law. We also envision for reconstructing the constitution. Our constitution is one man-centric, and the prime minister has all of the power, maximum of the power. So we have to reform the constitution, we have to reform the election commissions and we have to eradicate corruptions. We have to reconstruct the country system and government system first, then we can go for an election.
CHANG: There are concerns about this interim government being run by young people who don't have a lot of political experience, young people like yourself. How do you respond to those concerns?
ISLAM: We represented the people. We, the students, lead the movement and the revolution. The political forces, existing forces of Bangladesh, failed. As a student can lead a movement, lead a revolution, a student can also form a government, can also lead the government.
CHANG: Well, Minister Islam, if we called you back in one year from today, tell me what you hope you could tell us about Bangladesh at that point in the future.
ISLAM: The future, Bangladesh, I want to see a democratic Bangladesh and party democracy and the rule of law and justice. And we also say that we want a new political settlement in Bangladesh.
CHANG: Nahid Islam is one of the students who led the protests that ousted Bangladesh's former prime minister. He is now a minister in the interim government of Bangladesh. Thank you so much for joining us and good luck to you.
ISLAM: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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