To gather their thoughts on policymaking on socio-political issues, Muktiforum organised a contest – Youth Manifesto Dialogue 2026 which took place at the Royal Paradise Hotel at the heart of the capital between 10am and 2pm today, Saturday, 31 January 2026. Here, students from various different universities participated and submitted over 60 manifestos of imaginary political parties and engaged in a presentation and debate contest for lucrative prizes and awards. 14 contestants participated in the first round of the final from which 5 were advanced to the second round from where three contestants were awarded top prizes.
The youth were encouraged to think critically about policies of state for the betterment of people of this country. The contest was held in two segments – 1) vision articulation and public engagement and 2) policy pitch before the jury. This contest is not only of importance for the youth, but it is important for the people of the whole country.
The program started with a welcome speech from Muktiforum’s executive member Aparajita Debnath. The first round is conducted by Araf Ibn Saif, co-founder of Muktiforum. Here, the contestants presented their manifesto regarding the socio-political issues such as corruption, clientelist politics, security of person, women and gender-diverse people’s safety, etc. In between the two rounds, human rights activist Rezaur Rahman Lenin and law lecturer Evnat Bhuiyan gave speeches and a presentation named Gen-Z ballot by M. Rajibul Islam Talukdar Bindu was given.
The second round started with five contestants, Anika Bushra Imam Bela, Aziz Ibna Mahbub, Md. Hasan Ul Hasib, Md. Sajidur Rahman Sajir, Nafis Fuad, selected based on the performance in the first round. The second round is conducted by Anupam Debashis Roy, co-founder of Muktiforum and editor-in-chief of Muktipotro. This round is held in a debate form. Every contestant presented their vision in one minute. One participant Aziz Ibne Mahmud raised the issue of the judiciary.
The honourable judges for this stage were:
- Asif Saleh, Executive Director/CEO, BRAC
- Nazmul Ahasan, Executive Editor, Netra News
- Nazia Nusrat Adnin, Digital Distribution Coordinator for Bangladesh, Deutsche Welle.
- Rezaur Rahman Lenin, Human Rights Activist
- Evnat Bhuiyan, Lecturer of Law, Bangladesh Open University
- Ferdousi Begum, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB)
The judges questioned the contestants one by one. The newer issues were traffic management, bribery, illegal vehicles, lack of training, bureaucratic complexities, national security and geopolitics, cultural rights and preservation of archaeological sites, animal welfare, conflicts between aspirations and implementation public trust etc. Contestants replied with student’s role in traffic management after July-August mass uprising, lack of training, lack of security equipment, knowledge gap in youth, CHT security, self-dependence, repealing Special Powers Act, preserving indigenous cultures, budget, reforestation etc.
Muktiforum arranged this contest. We saw authoritarian rule in Bangladesh many times. Dissents were suppressed. Apart from this, we saw corruption, clientelist politics, money laundering etc. However, Muktiforum dreams of building a liberal, pluralist and pro-people society in Bangladesh and has been working to that end since 2017.
The contest started on 20 January and finished on 31 January with a closing ceremony at the Royal Paradise hotel of the capital.
