# Zonayed Saki

Zonayed Saki (Bengali: জোনায়েদ সাকি) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is currently the Chief Co-ordinator of Ganosanhati Andolan.

## Career

On November 4 and 5, 2016, he assumed the duties as the chief coordinator of the central executive committee of the Ganosanhati Andolan in the special organizational conference. However, since the establishment of mass solidarity movement on August 29, 2002, he has been serving as a coordinator.
In 1990, he joined the political struggle by participating in the anti-dictatorship movement. When the anti-dictatorship movement ended, he joined the Student Federation of Bangladesh. In 1991, he was admitted to Dhaka University in Statistics. He joined the student movement more strongly and actively in Dhaka University. In 1998, he was elected as the Central President of Bangladesh Students Federation. He played a leading role in many movements including anti-salary hike movement, anti-sexual harassment movement, movement to protect national resources including oil and gas mineral resources, anti-imperialist student movement.
The Dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990 and since then the process of depoliticization in student politics in Bangladesh on the one hand and terrorism and occupation on the other have caused a lot of frustration in the student politics. The student movement went astray. At such a time, the 1999 JU Anti-Rape Movement in Jahangirnagar University set the first example of creating a platform for the movement of common students with students organizations.
Based on this experience, Zonayed Saki's anti-salary increase movement in Dhaka University in 1998, anti-sexual harassment movement in 1999, anti-imperialist movement based on US President Bill Clinton's visit, movement to protect national resources etc. added new dimensions to the student movement. Later, the most successful application of this model of movement was the Shamsunnahar Hall movement in 2003, the movement to prevent salary increase in Rajshahi University, the movement against military rule in 2008. Another example was set by the trained conscious student workers of the student organizations along with spontaneous ordinary students to take the movement to its goal at breakneck speed.
On the other hand, there was a qualitative transformation in the student movement under the leadership of Zonayed Saki. The student movement crossed the barrier of student interests and appeared on a larger scale. Zonayed Saki's role in bringing the movement to build higher education and translation institutes in mother tongue, sexual oppression and women's issues, the education movement of minority ethnic students living in Bangladesh as well as the question of their rights as a nation, the movement to protect the environment and environment of the whole world, is different in the area of student movement. Zonayed Saki resigned from the student body in the 6th central council of the student federation in 2000.
After retiring from student politics in 2000, the student movement formed the Ganosanhati Andolan on August 29, 2002, as a platform for the national liberation struggle with those who emerged from the labor movement. Apart from developing mass solidarity movement as an organization, he played a leadership role in the National Committee for Protection of Oil-Gas Mineral Resources and Power-Ports. On August 26, 2006, he led from the front in the Fulbari Uprising of Dinajpur.
In terms of political movement, 4 left parties, 5 left parties, Democratic Left Front and the last Democratic Left Alliance were formed under his leadership.

## Personal life

Zonayed Saki is married to Taslima Akhtar.

## Electoral performance

In the 2015 Dhaka North City Corporation election, Zonayed Saki, ran for the post of mayor but defeated. Later, he participated in the 2018 Bangladeshi general election from Dhaka-12 constituency but also defeated.