How Bangladesh’s ‘Gen Z’ protests brought down PM Sheikh Hasina
Here's what happened
Protests began in Bangladesh last month over a controversial government job-quota system and transformed into nationwide unrest following a harsh crackdown by authorities. Nearly 300 people were killed within weeks in one of the most violent phases of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.
On July 21, the Supreme Court scaled back the quota, which reserved one-third of government jobs for descendants of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War veterans.
But anti-protest rhetoric by Sheikh Hasina aided by police crackdown and attacks on protesters by groups affiliated with the ruling Awami League party galvanised a mass movement against the Hasina government.
On August 4, nearly 100 people were killed in a police crackdown, causing outrage. A day later, Hasina was forced to resign and flee the country, ending her 15-year rule.
The anger was such that even the statues of her father, the freedom icon Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman, were toppled and defaced.
Al Jazeera examines the events and the unfolding of Bangladesh's month-long protest.
June 5
The High Court reinstated the quota system, overturning a 2018 decision by Prime Minister Hasina's government to scrap it.
The court’s verdict triggered the initial protests led by university students.
The students stepped up their protests when Hasina refused to meet their demands, citing the court proceedings. She called the protesters "Razakar", a deeply offensive term for those accused of collaborating with Pakistan's army during the 1971 liberation war.
July 1
Students start protests demanding an end to job quotas
July 15-20
By mid-July, the protests turned violent after Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling party, along with the police attacked student protesters in the capital Dhaka.
The government soon shut down universities and cut off the internet. At least 187 people were killed and 1,000 arrested in the violence and the government crackdown between July 10 and 20.
https://x.com/Meghla_Megh/status/1816231742027825226/video/1
July 17
This video from July 17, verified by Sanad News Agency, shows protesters being ambushed by gunfire at Dhaka University.
Dhaka and Chittagong highways are all closed. The street is on fire.🔥 #QuotaMovement #StepDownHasina #BangladeshiStudentsareinDanger #Bangladeshstudentprotest #bangladeshstudentprotests pic.twitter.com/X7o85UbNIh
— Mehedi 🙋♂️🇧🇩 (@IamMehediSahin) July 17, 2024
July 18
According to NetBlocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, the internet in Bangladesh was cut off by the authorities in an attempt to quash the nationwide protests.
⚠️ Confirmed: Live metrics show that social media platform Facebook has been restricted on multiple internet providers in #Bangladesh; the incident comes as police crack down on student protests over government-imposed quotas, with deaths and hundreds of injuries reported 📉 pic.twitter.com/76MfPCOLqt
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) July 16, 2024
⚠️ Confirmed: Live network data show #Bangladesh is now in the midst of a near-total national internet shutdown; the new measure follows earlier efforts to throttle social media and restrict mobile data services, and comes amid reports of rising deaths at student protests 📉 pic.twitter.com/nMwwS0MDnC
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) July 18, 2024
This video from July 18, verified by Sanad News Agency, shows the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) rescuing stranded policemen from the Canadian University of Bangladesh in Dhaka after campus protests turned violent. The policemen were stuck there for three hours after student protesters blocked the entrance following clashes.
Police are fleeing
Student power 🇧🇩 Alhamdulillah pic.twitter.com/PyLvRE9uxu
— MD Hasan (@maxpro006) July 18, 2024
July 19 - Nationwide curfew imposed
Armed forces were recorded firing at large crowds of protesters, who refused to back down. They are seen hitting the car with stones as it backs up.
🚨 Govt in #Bangladesh summons Armed Forces after the police failed to control violent #Bangladeshstudentprotest
Reports of deaths of more unarmed students as police open fire. Conflicting number of deaths being reported.
The protests have gained strength and have erupted… pic.twitter.com/aS53UYIO4c
— Shafek Koreshe (@shafeKoreshe) July 18, 2024
X user Zulkarnain Saer, a Bangladeshi researcher, posted a video of the Bangladesh police dumping an injured student on the streets from an armoured personnel carrier onto the road. The student is identified as Shykh Yamin, a student of the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). Yamin was left to die on the streets.
Yesterday, I tweeted a video showing members of the Bangladesh police callously tossing the injured body of Shykh Yamin, a student at the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). They displayed no respect for human life, and left Yamin to die on the street.
Today, I… pic.twitter.com/63IOcS60KH
— Sami (@ZulkarnainSaer) July 19, 2024
July 21
The Supreme Court scrapped most of the quotas. The 30 percent quota was reduced to 5 percent, and 2 percent was reserved for ethnic minorities, leaving the remaining 93 percent jobs for all other Bangladeshis to be decided on merit.
A countrywide curfew remained in place, with the military manning the streets.
July 22
July 23
Partial internet connectivity was restored.
⚠ Update: Metrics show a partial restoration of fixed-line internet connectivity in #Bangladesh after five full days offline; social media and mobile data restrictions continue, limiting the public's right to communicate and stay informed as over 170 deaths reported at protests pic.twitter.com/gJ7szpXLLA
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) July 23, 2024
A video was posted on X of two policemen shooting at an injured protester being dragged by another unarmed man in south Dhaka. The police, one of them in civilian clothes, is seen shooting at them at point-blank range.
can you post that pic.twitter.com/xLYH4RcDYz
— Rohan Miah (@RohanMi04507407) July 23, 2024
The student leaders announced that they would be suspending the protest until July 24, a deadline which was later extended.
July 25
The protesters renewed their demands, which included the release of protest leaders, the lifting of the curfew, and the reopening of the universities.
While they agreed that the Supreme Court order and the government’s subsequent acceptance fulfilled their early demands for reforming the quota system, the killing of more than 150 student protesters and nearly 2,700 arrests, as per Associated Press’s tally, was not acceptable.
July 29
Protests resumed, and the call for Sheikh Hasina to step down as prime minister was made.
In this video verified by Sanad News Agency, heavily armed forces can be seen taking positions around different parts of the city.
As the students have announced that they will continue their protest until their 9-point demands are met. In response, the Bangladesh army can be seen taking positions in different parts of the capital, Dhaka, to quell the protest.
Multiple student groups claimed National… pic.twitter.com/VrFeHuQL7u
— Sami (@ZulkarnainSaer) July 29, 2024
A large crowd of peaceful protesters in Chattogram city is disrupted by an explosion that sent people fleeing for cover, verified by Sanad News Agency.
Today, the police charged with bombs and opened fire against a peaceful student protest.#StudentsUnderAttack #Bangladesh #BangladeshBleeding #Bangladeshstudentprotest pic.twitter.com/qnf6LzFJOb
— sm ehsan (@syedmdehsan) July 29, 2024
August 2
August 4
Thousands of Bangladeshi protesters crowded into a central Dhaka square for mass protests, demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down.
While the army stepped in to help restore order in the wake of earlier protests, some former military officers joined the student movement.
The deaths were reported by the police and doctors on Sunday in the capital Dhaka and the northern districts of Bogura, Pabna and Rangpur, as well as in Magura in the west, Comilla in the east, and Barisal and Feni in the south.
August 5
Tensions were heightened in the capital as protesters made calls for mass mobilisation.
In a surprising twist of events, Prime Minister Hasina resigned and fled the country.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party posted a video, verified by Sanad agency, of the prime minister's military helicopter, seen flying from her house to an airbase from where she reportedly left for India.
