Nayan Sarkar, a student of Titumir College, has completed his honours degree in political science. During his student years he has become what friends call "the oxygen of society". He is outspoken on the environment and can be seen at movements to protect trees in Dhaka's parks, fields and road islands, to save the CRB, hills, rivers, forests and wildlife, and at other campaigns for the environment and biodiversity. He also leads global climate strikes and is active in relief work during cyclones and floods. After rescue and relief work in Sylhet, Feni and Noakhali, he also took part in rehabilitation work in Khagrachhari.

He earns his friends' praise for his good work and is always first in line for humanitarian work, big or small, though he is best known as a volunteer. Someone needs blood? Nayan rushes there. People shivering in the cold? He goes to help. In clean-up drives, medical camps, food distribution, anti-rape and safe roads movements and other national campaigns, Nayan is always at the front.

Nayan says his social work began in 2016, and since 2019 he has been regularly involved in environmental and climate work. "I do this out of social responsibility," he said. "Whenever there is a natural disaster somewhere, I cannot stay at home. If I find someone to go with, I go; if not, I try to go alone. Sometimes I go with an organisation."

He was closely involved in relief during disasters and the Covid period, and in movements against rape, for safe roads and to protect trees and rivers. Most recently he was among the front-line activists of the anti-discrimination student movement. He says his community work began after his SSC exams in his village, with blood donor recruitment, clothes distribution, medical care and camps with an organisation called Spondon Foundation Bangladesh. During this time he worked with various national social groups and organisations, among them "Roktodaner Opekkhay Bangladesh".

After his HSC in 2018, Nayan came to Dhaka from Ewazpur village in Char Fasson upazila, Bhola district, for university admission tests, and began working with an organisation called BD Clean, most recently as logistics sub-coordinator of its Dhaka District North team. He joined other social organisations during this time as well. After being admitted to Titumir College, Nayan and friends from his department founded "Clean and Green Campus-Titumir", which now runs activities on campus. He was also convener of the arts faculty of Badhan's Titumir College unit.

"In 2019 I began to understand global climate change," Nayan said. "Since then I have worked to protect the country from its effects. I saw problems in Bangladesh such as pollution and the clearing of trees, forests and hills, and I felt we needed to raise our voice for conservation and campaign against those destroying the environment and biodiversity. That is when I started this work. Later I planted trees at Titumir College and launched an organisation called Save Future Bangladesh, which now runs environmental and climate programmes at national level."

In the years after 2019 he worked with several international and national organisations. "I have worked with countless organisations, including Fridays for Future, Climate Live-Bangladesh, Nirapad Sarak Andolon, the Bangladesh Nature Conservation Alliance, Bhalo Kajer Hotel, P Foundation and the Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies," he said. "I have also run several social initiatives myself, and I take part in conferences and seminars on these issues in the country."

Nayan also works to save Bangladesh football. That began in 2020 with the "Boycott Salauddin" movement, and the "Save Bangladesh Football" page was started by him; the community now works for the development of football in Bangladesh. The Titumir College student was also at the front of the recent anti-discrimination student movement. "From the early days of the movement I protested regularly at Shahbagh, TSC, Shantinagar, Badda and Rampura," he said. "On 18 July I was hit by rubber bullets. On 5 August at Chankharpul I found myself in front of police gunfire, but the bullet narrowly passed by me."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.