Dispatch from Dhaka: Bangladesh's students are bruised and battered but will not bow

Editor’s note: Bangladesh has been burning through July. Peaceful protests on university campuses early in the month, by students opposing a quota system for government jobs, spiralled into unrest across the country after the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, insulted the protesters and dismissed their concerns. Violence exploded when the student and youth wings of the ruling Awami League attacked protesters, with police action following on. On 20 July the government deployed the army and imposed a country-wide curfew to try and maintain order. As protests have continued in the streets, large numbers of people have been reported killed and thousands have been injured. 

Shahidul Alam, a renowned photojournalist, educator and activist based in Dhaka, has been documenting the protests and the government’s brutal reprisal. Alam has managed to get his dispatches out to the media despite an internet shutdown imposed to try and contain the protests, which has since been partially lifted. Himal Southasian is republishing these dispatches, which offer a picture of the situation inside Bangladesh even as the internet shutdown has severely restricted the outflow of information.

The events and circumstances described in the dispatches have been changing rapidly and there have been several developments since Alam penned each of them. The curfew has been partially lifted and internet connectivity has been partially restored, although it remains patchy and communication with many parts of the country remains difficult. The dispatches reflect the extent of violence and repression unleashed by the Sheikh Hasina government against its people. They have been lightly edited for clarity. 

Click here to read all dispatches.

Alam sent his third dispatch on 22 July 2024.

A bruised face would not have worked for the government-staged press conference. Mohammad Nahid Islam was lucky he had passed out. There were no marks on his face, and at first sight one wouldn’t have known the extent of the torture. It was only in hospital that the full extent of the damage could be gauged. It was no random beating, or people venting anger. It was very professionally done. Intense, localised, repeated and of course incredibly painful. No outwardly visible signs in normal situations. No broken bones. No long term scar tissue or tell tale signs. Their mistake had been in not stopping before he became unconscious. A miscalculation on their part.

Nahid was one of the coordinators of the quota protest  movement who had not agreed to the deal. Three others, who had been coerced into doing so, had repeatedly asked him to change his stance. The government had provided the script. “They are going to give us what we had asked for (the removal of quota). The violence was by outsiders. We need to distance ourselves from it.” The government had arranged for the ‘independent’ court to give an appropriate judgement. The students would be happy. The opposition would get the blame for the killings. Nahid’s rejection of this grand narrative had become a problem.