FILE PHOTO: PRABIR DAS

TANGILA TASNIM

With clenched fists and fierce voices, a group of fearless women stood before the locked gates of their residential halls on the night of July 14, 2024. There were no commands, no central leader -- only rage and a deep sense of injustice. They broke through the gates and poured into the streets.

“Tumi ke, ami ke? Rajakar, Rajakar!” Their cry ignited a fire that swept across Dhaka University’s women’s halls. Male students soon followed, rallying at the Raju Memorial Sculpture.

There was no script. Yet from Ruqayyah Hall to Eden College, from garment factories in Gazipur to campuses in Chattogram and Sylhet, women marched, shouted, shielded, bled -- and led.

This was no ordinary student protest. The July 2024 uprising has come to be seen as a landmark in women-led resistance. Across cities, women weren’t just present -- they were pivotal.

“When the former prime minister called us -- ordinary students -- traitors, my blood felt like boiling,” said Nasrin Akhter, a master’s student at Ruqayyah Hall. “That night, we made our own decision. We broke the locks of our hall gate and came out. I felt there was no room for silence anymore.”

The breakout unleashed a tidal wave. By dawn, the movement had outgrown campus walls.

On July 15, students from Eden, Badrunnesa, Dhaka College, and City College gathered at the Raju Sculpture. The ruling party’s student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), had a separate rally, but the general students stood their ground.

“They came at us with hockey sticks and knives,” said Lamia Raihan, a third-year student at Eden. “We were unarmed, but

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