How Bangladesh's students led first Gen Z revolution

After month-long violent protests, young people backed by opposition politicians have overthrown the authoritarian Sheikh Hasina government.

- Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Bangladesh is no stranger to student protests but rarely has the country witnessed such large numbers of inexperienced young people take on a giant political figure such as Sheikh Hasina Wazed.

The protests began in June when thousands of school, college and university students, mostly in their twenties, poured onto the streets across the country, demanding an end to a system ensuring 30 per cent of government jobs went to the descendants of independence war heroes – and later the resignation of the prime minister.

The month-long protest culminated on Monday with extraordinary scenes as Bangladeshis stormed Prime Minister Hasina’s palatial official residence, forcing her to flee the country in an abrupt end to her 20 years in power across two spells.

As she fled with her daughter and sister to India, protesters rejoiced in streets still stained by blood from violent clashes between students, the security forces and counter-protesters from the ruling party Awami League’s student wing. “There was a sense of ecstasy in the air, a sense of joy and celebration that we had collectively put an end to the barbaric rule of Sheikh Hasina,” Saima Rehman, a 22-year-old university student, tells The Independent.

Ms Hasina ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist, her time in power characterised by a ruthless approach to her critics, deeply flawed elections and the mass arrest of opposition politicians to the point where there was very little space left for dissent in the country.

For many like Ms Rehman, these demonstrations were a watershed moment, the first time they had felt compelled to take to the streets in protest. “We have heard about the history of protests [in Bangladesh] but I never thought I’d partake in one,” she says. “We didn’t think we had the courage to stand up to the ruling party but it seemed real when we marched toward her official residence.”