It had increasingly been becoming apparent that Sheikh Hasina’s regime was leading to downfall. Over time, she turned into an arrogant and tyrannical leader. Her autocratic attitude got severer with each successive term, both in government and within her own party Awami League. Her decisions became final, brooking no dissent. Many see this along with other reasons for her fall. However, I want to focus on the foul-mouthed speeches of Sheikh Hasina, who resigned as the prime minister on Monday in the face of a mass uprising, led by students, which brought her own downfall.

It was her remarks that added fuel to the fire when students were staging demonstrations demanding reform of the quota system in public service.

While addressing a press conference at Ganobhaban on 14 July, Sheikh Hasina questioned the rationale behind the students’ demand for eliminating the quota system for government jobs, saying: “If the grandchildren of freedom fighters don’t get quota benefits, will the grandchildren of Razakars get those?”

Her remarks ignited a firestorm among the protesting students and added pace to their movement, which ultimately led to her downfall.

Sheikh Hasina also ridiculed the protesting students for fluctuating their demands, saying they placed different demands at different times.

 The students launched their movement on 1 July in protest against a High Court verdict abolishing a government circular, which scrapped the quota system in public service. The movement was non-violent until 14 July.

The students burst into protests after Sheikh Hasina’s Razakar comments, claiming that she insulted them through such remarks.

The students of Dhaka University, including female ones, brought out processions from different halls and gathered at the foot of Raju Memorial Sculpture on the night of 14 July. They chanted different slogans like “Cheyechilam Odhikar, hoye gelam Razakar” (We wanted rights, but were termed Razakars). Their slogans resonated through the campus during the demonstrations that continued till 1am.

On 15 July, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader announced that Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) would give a befitting reply to the students’ audacity to call them Razakars.

On the very same day, the BCL activists swooped on the protesting students in different parts of the country, especially Dhaka University, and beat them mercilessly, leaving many, including female students, injured.

The agitating students called demonstrations for the following day on 16 July protesting the BCL attack on the common students. At least six people, including Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur student Abu Sayed, were killed in firing by police and BCL attacks.

The killing of Abu Sayed, who was seen standing unarmed in the middle of a road, in police firing added a new dimension to the students’ movement. The next day, Sheikh Hasina in a televised address to the nation urged the protesting students to have patience, saying they would get justice from the apex court.

However, the students called for a complete shutdown from 18 July when many people were killed in police firing and attacks by the activists of Awami League and its associate bodies. The barbaric firing and attacks continued on the next day too. Over 250 people were killed in police actions although the AL government admitted 150 casualties.

The government enforced a curfew throughout the country from midnight of 19 July and deployed members of the armed forces. On 21 July, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ruled that 93% recruitments in government jobs from 9th to 13th grades would be made based on merit while the rest 7% on quotas, striking down an HC verdict related to the quota system. On 23 July, the government published a gazette notification reforming the quota system in the light of the Appellate Division verdict. However, the verdict failed to quell the students’ protests as they demanded a solution from the executive branch of the state.

In the meantime, the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police picked up six key coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement – Nahid Islam, Mohammad Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, Abu Baker Majumder, Asif Mahmud and Nusrat Tabassum – from the hospital and their residences. It kept them in its custody for six days claiming that they were taken into custody for their own safety. The coordinators were coerced into reading out a statement on 29 July that they withdrew all their programmes.

However, other coordinators who were outside rejected the announcement, vowing to continue the movement. On the same day, students took to the streets again after a lull for over one week.

On 1 August, the DB released the six coordinators from its custody, a day after Harun Or Rashid was removed from the post of the DB chief. After their release, they claimed that they were made to make the movement withdrawal statement under duress. On the same day, the protesting students observed a ‘March for Justice’ programme across the country demanding justice for those killed in the movement.

People from all walks of life expressed their solidarity with the movement and took to the streets.

The agitating students held prayers and mass processions on 2 August and called for a rally at the Central Shaheed Minar on 3 August. From the rally, Nahid Islam announced that they would enforce an all-out non-cooperation movement from Sunday, narrowing down their nine demands to a single one: resignation of the AL government.

Over 100 people were killed and several hundred injured as law enforcers and AL men opened fire on the protesting students on the first day of the non-cooperation movement on Sunday. On the same day, they called for a ‘March to Dhaka’ for Monday. The government imposed a curfew from 6pm on Sunday in a bid to suppress the movement. However, the protesting students rejected the curfew and vowed to make their programme a success.

The protesting students said they narrowed down their nine demands, including a public apology from Sheikh Hasina for her Razakar comments, to a single one as she did not take any step to fulfil their demands due to her arrogance.

The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Khizir Hayat on 5 June pronounced the judgement, paving the way for reinstating the 30% freedom fighter quota in government jobs.

Following a petition filed by the state against the HC judgement, the Appellate Division on 4 July upheld the HC verdict temporarily and instructed the state to file a leave-to-appeal petition once the full verdict is published.

Later on 10 July, it issued a status quo on the HC verdict that declared illegal a 2018 government circular abolishing the quota system in the 9th to 13th grades of government jobs.

The Appellate Division came up with the order after holding a hearing a petition filed by two students of the University of Dhaka against the HC judgement, fixing 7 August for the next hearing.

The state filed the leave-to-appeal petition against the HC verdict on 16 July while the two DU students on 18 July.

The government in 2018 through that circular said direct recruitment in all government jobs in 9th grade (old first class) and from 10th to 13th grade (old second class) will be completely based on merit, abolishing the existing quota system.

Seven people filed the writ with the HC in 2021, challenging the legality of the circular.