SHAMSUDDOZA SAJEN

Brutal violence descended on July 15, 2024, as activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League launched coordinated attacks on students protesting for reforms in the public service quota system. The most harrowing scenes unfolded on the Dhaka University campus, where pitched battles between helmet-clad BCL activists and unarmed demonstrators raged for nearly five hours, leaving over 300 people injured, mostly protesters, including women, but also several BCL activists.

Armed with sticks and iron rods, hundreds of BCL activists, many reportedly brought in from outside the university, swept across campus, beating demonstrators wherever they found them. Even female students were not spared, as attackers were seen hitting them with sticks in full view of onlookers. Many injured students, bleeding and terrified, ran for their lives through the streets littered with brick chunks from the clashes.

At one point, the protesters retaliated, throwing bricks and beating back some BCL activists. But the violence was far from Later