New advocacy group urges responsible youth engagement, evidence-based politics

The Bangladesh Youth Think Tank (BYTT) has called on young people to reject aggression, abusive language, misinformation, rumours and political provocation, urging them to instead embrace fact-checking, civility, evidence-based discourse and constructive social engagement to help build a more progressive and responsible country.

The newly formed policy research and social organisation made the call at a public awareness campaign held at 4:30pm on Sunday at Justice Shahabuddin Park of Gulshan-2 in the capital. Similar awareness campaigns were conducted simultaneously at several other key locations in the capital.

BYTT President Imtiaz Ahmed, Vice-President Umme Hani Prithi, General Secretary Shaikh Rifad Mahmud, Chief Coordinator AKM Ahsan Habib Nafi, Director Kazi Saddam Hossain and other members of the organisation attended the programme.

Awareness leaflets were distributed among young people during the campaign.

The organisers said a section of vested parties is exploiting the emotions of young people and using them as political tools amid growing political tension and the rapid spread of unverified information in cyberspace.

They expressed concern over what they described as growing negative behaviour among some young people, including spreading of rumours without verification, verbally abuses against people with differing opinions, cyberbullying and engaging in aggressive political rhetoric.

The organisation urged young people to move away from such activities and play a constructive role in national development and policymaking.

“Politics must be based on evidence and facts, not propaganda,” the organisers said, stressing that young people should not become anyone's blind political tools. They called on the youth to resist emotional manipulation and provocation and contribute to building a tolerant, rational and responsible society.

Imtiaz Ahmed said Bangladesh's development cannot be achieved merely through protests, conflict or the spread of vulgarity. Young people, he said, should focus on developing their skills, improving themselves and contributing to society through positive and productive activities.

He also said the country's youth should not be portrayed as aggressive or violent. Rather, Bangladesh's young generation is talented, polite and full of potential and can make significant contributions to national development if given the right opportunities and platforms.

According to the organisation, one of its key objectives is to bring the voices, aspirations and ideas of young people into the national policymaking process.

Imtiaz Ahmed said Bangladesh Youth Think Tank plans to appoint representatives or ambassadors in all 300 parliamentary constituencies across the country by December 2026.

The initiative is intended to create a nationwide youth network through which young people's concerns and expectations can be communicated to policymakers and, where possible, contribute to government policy discussions.

The organisation said its activities would initially focus on social awareness campaigns. In later phases, it plans to organise policy conferences, seminars, dialogues and skills-development programmes aimed at preparing young people for future challenges.

Addressing youth unemployment will also be a major area of focus, the organisation said.

The leaders placed particular emphasis on responsible use of social media, urging young people not to believe or share information immediately without first checking its authenticity.

They warned that misinformation can spread rapidly through social media and may result in innocent people becoming victims of public backlash before the truth is established.

On the issue of fact-checking, Imtiaz Ahmed said misinformation cannot be addressed effectively by an individual or a single organisation alone. Rather, fact-checking needs to be approached institutionally through cooperation among organisations and social groups.

Bangladesh Youth Think Tank, he said, intends to contribute to fact-checking efforts within its capacity and work with other youth organisations and civil society groups to collectively combat misinformation.

The organisation also called for greater civility in political discourse.

Its leaders said differences of opinion, political participation and peaceful protests are legitimate components of a democratic society.

However, disagreements should be expressed through respectful and measured language rather than personal attacks, abusive remarks or aggressive rhetoric.

Umme Hani Prithi said the central objective of Bangladesh Youth Think Tank is to bring the voices and ideas of young people into the national policymaking process.

She said one of the organisation's immediate priorities is to encourage young people to verify information before believing or sharing it and to prioritise truth and reason before making public statements, particularly on social media.

 “Young people should not merely participate in state activities; they should become stakeholders in evidence-based policy dialogue and the country's policymaking framework,” she said.

The organisation said the current awareness campaign is part of a broader effort to encourage young people to become informed, responsible and constructive participants in public life rather than being used as instruments of political confrontation.

The organisers announced that similar policy dialogues, awareness campaigns and youth-focused programmes will continue in the future, with the aim of expanding the initiative nationwide and strengthening meaningful youth participation in policymaking.