Students returned to Dhaka University in Bangladesh on Sunday after the campus had been closed for several weeks due to a student-led uprising that resulted in the fall of autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Initially centered around job quotas, the protests quickly grew into a nationwide movement that ended Hasina’s 15-year rule. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated both on campus and in the surrounding Shahbagh area.
In July, as the protests intensified, authorities closed the campus, and a violent crackdown ensued, killing hundreds. Several of the protest leaders were students at the university, some of whom were arrested by plainclothes officers and detained for several days.
By Sunday, the university was lively again, with lecture halls full and students socializing around the campus. Arpita Das, a political science student, expressed her relief at being back, comparing the atmosphere to a fresh start, as teachers greeted them with flowers.
Das recalled the violent clashes in July when pro-Hasina students and protesters fought with rocks, sticks, and iron rods. She admitted the uncertainty of whether they would ever return to their studies had weighed heavily on her.
According to assistant proctor Mohammad Mahbub Quaisar, who took over after Hasina loyalists resigned, most departments had resumed classes, and students were attending with enthusiasm.
Hasina’s government had been accused of human rights violations, including mass detentions and extrajudicial killings.
A preliminary UN report estimated over 600 people were killed in the lead-up to her ousting, though the real number could be higher.
Since her exile to India, many of her government officials have been arrested, and her appointees removed from key positions.
In Shahbagh, new murals celebrate the country’s “rebirth” and call for destroying oppressive structures. Kalimulla Al Kafi, a 25-year-old master’s student, described the previous regime as stifling and oppressive but now feels free to return to his studies.
