July Revolution in Bangladesh.

Photographer: Mamunur Rashid

Title: July Revolution in Bangladesh.

Location: Dhaka

Period: 06/2024 - 01/2025

Category: Spot News

The 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement was a series of anti-government and pro-democracy protests in Bangladesh, spearheaded primarily by university students. Initially focused on restructuring quota-based systems for government job recruitment, the movement expanded against what many perceive as an authoritarian government when they carried out the July massacre of protestors and civilians, most of whom were students. Started as a student movement, the movement later escalated into a fully-fledged mass uprising known as July Revolution in Bangladesh.
The Students–People's uprising, also known as the July Revolution, was a pro-democracy mass uprising in Bangladesh. It began as a quota reform movement in early June 2024, led by the Anti-discrimination Students Movement, after the Bangladesh Supreme Court invalidated the government's 2018 circular regarding job quotas in the public sector. The movement escalated into a full-fledged mass uprising after the government carried out mass killings of protesters, known as the July massacre, by late July. By early August, the movement evolved into a non-cooperation movement, ultimately leading to the ouster of the then-Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh to India. Hasina's ouster triggered a constitutional crisis, leading to the formation of an interim government led by the country's only Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus, as the chief adviser.
The movement saw an unprecedented level of participation by women, a rarity in the political history of Bangladesh. Traditionally, women in the country have been less involved in political demonstrations. Experts attribute this heightened involvement to the significant presence of young female university and high-school students.

Sheikh Hasina’s government sought to suppress the protests by shutting down all educational institutions. They deployed their student wing, the Chhatra League, along with other factions of the Awami League party. These groups resorted to using firearms and sharp weapons against the demonstrators. The government then deployed Police, RAB, BGB and other armed forces, declaring a nationwide shoot-at-sight curfew amid an unprecedented government-ordered nationwide internet and mobile connectivity blackout that effectively isolated Bangladesh from the rest of the world. Later, the government also blocked social media in Bangladesh. During the movement numerous individuals with gunshot wounds killed were buried without identification.
During July Students-People's uprising more then 1,000 individuals had been killed in the uprising and more than 400 students had lost their eyesight. Additionally, more than 20,000 were injured, and over 11,000 were arrested nationwide. Among the deceased were at least 32 children, according to UNICEF.