Filming The Uprising: Revisiting How Bangladeshi Youth Used the Right to Record to Overthrow an Authoritarian Regime

 

On August 5, 2024, a monumental shift occurred in Bangladesh’s political landscape when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had ruled the country for over 15 years, was forced to flee with her sister, Sheikh Rehana, amid mass protests led by the student movement “Students Against Discrimination”, at the ‘Long March to Dhaka‘ event. This marked the first time in Bangladesh’s history that a sitting head of government was ousted and forced into exile.

 

Before her departure, Hasina’s government unleashed a violent crackdown. A UN OHCHR Fact-Finding Report confirmed that approximately 1,400 people were killed between July 1 and August 15, 2024, with thousands more injured, many of them shot by state security forces. About 12–13% of those killed were children. Eyewitnesses and reports confirmed that most casualties were inflicted by the police, military, and paramilitary groups acting under the government’s orders.

 

Photo Courtesy: Jibon Ahmed

In the Shadow of the Quota System and Impunity

 

The mass protests began in June 2024, triggered by the reintroduction of a controversial quota system that reserved government jobs for the descendants of 1971 war veterans. Students widely condemned this policy as institutional discrimination, arguing it perpetuated generational privilege and reduced fair access to public sector jobs for the general youth population.

 

The protest followed a High Court ruling that declared illegal a 2018 government circular that had abolished the quota system in government services. This decision originally stemmed from the 2018 Bangladesh Quota Reform Movement. The court’s order effectively reinstated a system where 56 percent of government positions were reserved for specific groups, including 30 percent for descendants of 1971 freedom fighters, even extending to their grandchildren.

 

Students saw this as an unfair policy that gave special advantages to people connected to the ruling Awami League, which was accused of using the freedom fighter status for its own political gain. They believed it helped those with inherited benefits instead of giving everyone an equal chance. In response, the movement reignited under the name Students Against Discrimination, demanding long-overdue reforms to ensure equal opportunity for all.

 

From the beginning, demonstrators faced violent attacks from the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling Awami League, infamous for its role in silencing dissent. Protesters were then met with brutal force from security personnel. Thousands were injured, many were arbitrarily arrested, and by the final days of the protest, the death toll reached horrific levels—a mountain of fatalities, as many described it.

 

Photo Courtesy: Jibon Ahmed

 

This violent suppression backfired, radicalizing the protest movement. What began as a demand to reform the quota system transformed into a single, unified call: the resignation of Sheikh Hasina.

 

The movement gained momentum on July 4, 2024, when the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s decision. As protests intensified, the government escalated its repression. On July 15, during demonstrations near Dhaka University, authorities shut down 4G mobile internet access in the area. By July 16, reports of widespread mobile slowdowns emerged from university campuses across the country, further fueling public outrage.

 

The uprising, locally referred to as the “Monsoon Uprising“, became one of the largest and most spontaneous mass movements in the country’s history. In the end, facing a collapsing regime and uncontainable public rage, Sheikh Hasina was compelled to flee the country. Following her departure, a Bangladeshi court formally charged Sheikh Hasina and two others with crimes against humanity, based on the events of July and early August. An interim government has since taken control, promising to hold accountable those responsible for the violence.

 

Since taking office in 2009, Sheikh Hasina’s rule has been frequently criticized for curbing dissent, suppressing opposition, enforced disappearance, and violating human rights. International watchdogs have long condemned her administration for censorship, state violence, and impunity.

How One Video Changed Everything

 

A pivotal moment in the uprising occurred on July 16, 2024, when a video captured the death of Abu Saeed, a student at Begum Rokeya University, during a protest demanding quota reform. The footage quickly went viral on social media, showing police opening fire on an unarmed protester who stood with his arms outstretched like a bird. Moments later, he collapsed to the ground and died shortly afterward.

 

This harrowing video sent shockwaves across the country and dramatically shifted the trajectory of the movement. What had begun as a protest against an unjust quota system suddenly transformed into a nationwide moral awakening. The raw, undeniable brutality captured in the footage galvanized public sympathy, drawing support from people far beyond student circles.

 

As momentum grew and more students flooded the streets, the Hasina regime found it increasingly difficult to suppress the uprising. Despite intensifying repression, including continued police shootings and violent attacks by government-affiliated groups, the public outcry only deepened.

Photo Courtesy: Kazi Oyali Ullah

Documenting Under an Internet Shutdown

 

As the protests intensified, Sheikh Hasina’s government escalated its control measures by shutting down mobile internet services on the night of July 17, 2024. When the situation failed to stabilize, the state went further, suspending all internet services, including broadband, resulting in a near-total nationwide blackout from the night of July 18.

 

This sweeping shutdown not only constituted a serious violation of digital rights but also caused massive disruptions across key sectors of the country’s increasingly online-dependent economy, including banking, education, healthcare, freelancing, and e-commerce. While the government claimed that the outage was due to alleged attacks by protesters on internet service provider data centers, Telenor, the international parent company of Grameenphone, confirmed that the shutdown was state-ordered.

 

NetBlocks, a global watchdog that monitors internet governance and cybersecurity, and Activate Rights, a Bangladeshi digital rights collective tracking internet shutdowns, both reported that the blackout was deliberately imposed by the authorities to suppress the nationwide uprising. Activate Rights documented at least two full nationwide internet shutdowns between July 15 and August 5, 2024, through its Shutdown Watch dashboard, an open-source platform monitoring internet disruptions. Additionally, the group recorded continuous targeted shutdowns, including blocking mobile internet and restricting access to social media platforms.

 

Photo Courtesy: Shoeb Abdullah

 

Despite the blanket digital blackout, the protesters remained steadfast. Across the country, the death toll continued to climb as police and pro-government groups escalated violent crackdowns. The regime’s strategy clearly included silencing both traditional and social media, preventing reports of state-sponsored bloodshed from reaching the public and the world beyond.

 

To crush the growing dissent, the government deployed all available forces: the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Armed Police Battalion (APBN), and other paramilitary units. The crackdown was not confined to the streets; helicopters were widely used, raining down sound grenades and tear gas from the air, often targeting peaceful student gatherings in universities and public spaces.

 

In this climate of fear and censorship, students and ordinary citizens turned to their mobile phones, the last available tools to record the truth. With traditional media heavily censored and the internet blocked, they realized that first-hand footage could become the movement’s voice.

 

Even without internet access, people continued recording scenes of brutality, storing them on personal devices. Some were arrested simply for filming. Yet they persisted.

 

Hasan, a student activist involved in the July uprising, told Activate Rights:

 

“We knew that our voices could be lost in heavily censored traditional media, so we decided to film what was happening to us—we wanted to show the world and seek justice. During the protests, when security forces openly killed people, we tried to document it and keep it safe in our homes. We used to send SMS messages to fellow protesters, urging them to preserve videos of police brutality and the Chhatra League’s human rights violations around us.”

 

 

These mobile recordings, when eventually circulated, exposed chilling visuals: unarmed protesters being gunned down without provocation, often alongside violent assaults by Awami League-affiliated goons. The footage painted a damning portrait of a regime using overwhelming force to crush a youth-led demand for justice and reform.

Occupying the Internet and Searching Alternatives

 

In a country where mainstream media is largely controlled by the ruling Awami League-led government, social media emerged as the primary outlet for communication during the July student uprising. It became essential for delivering real-time updates, mobilization efforts, giving speeches, and sharing ground reports with fellow protesters and the broader public.

 

Nahid Islam, the prominent leader of Students Against Discrimination, who later joined the interim government and now serves as head of the newly formed National Citizens’ Party, spoke to Activate Rights about the role of digital repression:

 

 

“The internet shutdown completely disrupted the flow of information. The Awami League government at the time blocked the internet to prevent people from gathering and increased surveillance, violating our constitutional rights. Without the internet, organizers were isolated, and protesters couldn’t know or share what was happening on the streets. This often hindered us from making rational decisions.”

 

 

Nahid believes that the internet blackout was part of a premeditated plan to carry out the mass killings. He contends the government intentionally cut connectivity to conceal the scale of the violence, and for this reason, organizers prioritized recording human rights violations throughout the shutdown.

 

Despite these severe restrictions, students and the public continued to resist. Protesters experimented with alternative technologies, including mesh network apps like Briar and Brigify, and in some cases, students attempted to create independent servers under the name Jogajog (meaning “connection”). However, these efforts faced significant limitations due to a lack of experience and infrastructure for decentralized communication.

 

In response to social media bans, VPN usage surged as people searched for any available means to stay connected and informed. The blackouts exposed the fragility of centralized internet control and further emphasized the urgent need for a free, open, and decentralized internet infrastructure in Bangladesh, along with greater access to alternative communication technologies.

Turning Footage into Accountability

 

While partial broadband connectivity was restored on the night of July 23, mobile internet and all social media platforms remained blocked until July 28. Throughout the blackout, the government blamed students for the violence, denied the use of excessive force, and attempted to suppress the actual number of casualties. As expected, the state-controlled media echoed the government’s version of events, shaping a narrative that painted the protesters as violent agitators and the state as restrained.

Photo Courtesy: Jibon Ahmed

 

However, this narrative began to unravel just five days after the blackout, when broadband was partially restored. Students and citizens began uploading the videos they had recorded on their mobile phones, revealing a harrowing reality of state-sponsored violence. These raw, unfiltered clips, recorded during the total blackout, began circulating on social media and completely overturned the government’s false claims. The regime, which had sought to control the story, found its version shattered by undeniable evidence of brutal repression.

 

Many of the viral videos depicted police firing multiple rounds at unarmed protesters at close range, some of whom posed no threat at all. One particularly disturbing video showed Bangladesh police dumping an injured student from an armored personnel carrier onto the road. The student, later identified as Shykh Yamin from the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), was left to die in the street.

 

In another video, a young man is seen hanging from a rod in an under-construction building. Filmed from a distance, the footage captures two police officers approaching and firing at least six rounds at the youth, who had been hiding.

 

A third clip, recorded near a footbridge in Dhaka, shows a group of policemen gathered in one area. A young man tries to carry away another who had just been shot, when police fire three more rounds at the unarmed civilians. The injured man collapses, while his rescuer is forced to flee for his life.

 

These videos, circulated widely by youth activists, quickly dismantled the government’s propaganda campaign. For many who had remained at home, the disturbing footage acted as a catalyst, compelling them to join the movement with renewed urgency and solidarity.

 

After reviewing the public-recorded videos and documented casualties during the blackout, Amnesty International concluded that Bangladesh’s law enforcement agencies had employed excessive and lethal force, including the use of live bullets, tear gas, and shotguns, in attempts to suppress the largely peaceful protests.

 

At this point, the movement underwent a decisive transformation. Students formally announced that their demands had shifted beyond quota reform to ‘One point‘. In the wake of the massacre, they called not only for the resignation of the government but also for the prosecution of those responsible for the atrocities.

The Role of WITNESS: Advancing the Right to Record

 

Since 1992, WITNESS has advocated globally for the Right to Record—the ability of civilians to document police, military, and government actions without fear of retaliation. This right is a cornerstone of holding power to account, particularly during repression and conflict.

 

In Bangladesh, WITNESS has been collaborating with local activists and digital rights groups since early 2024, providing resources such as:

• Tips for Filming Protest, Police, and Military Violence in Bangladesh
• Tips for Filming Bangladesh National Parliamentary Election Offenses

These tools were widely shared during the uprising, helping students and citizens capture and preserve evidence safely and ethically.

 

Protest Video as a Tool of Artistic Activism

 

When internet access partially returned, albeit at limited speeds, videos of state atrocities began to surface online. Alongside the flood of harrowing footage, artists and musicians joined the wave of resistance, turning digital documentation into a form of artistic activism.

 

One of the powerful examples was Bangladeshi-born rapper Hannan Hossain Shimul, who released his breakout rebel track “Awaaz Utha” (Raise Your Voice) on YouTube amid the peak of police brutality. The song, rooted in the rhythms of rebellion and protest, quickly began trending on YouTube in Bangladesh, becoming a rallying cry for the movement. However, on July 25, Shimul was arrested by the police under the Hasina-led regime. “Awaaz Utha”, like many other protest songs and raps that followed, was created using actual footage of people’s resistance during the movement. These videos, embedded in the music, captured real moments of defiance, police brutality, and unbreakable solidarity. The lyrics echoed the courage and resilience of the people, serving not only as artistic expressions but also as powerful historical records of the uprising.

 

These rebel tracks became anthems of strength, boosting morale among protesters and drawing in more artists, musicians, and writers who aligned themselves with the cause. The convergence of art, activism, and raw video evidence created a new dimension of the movement, one where culture and creativity amplified the cries for justice.

 

The music videos that circulated widely featured real scenes of resistance, juxtaposed with poetic verses and hard-hitting lyrics that told the story of a youth uprising against tyranny. In doing so, they helped sustain momentum, especially during times when direct protest was met with violence and suppression.

Fortify Community Truth: The Bangladesh Protest Archive

 

Throughout the protest, youth activists and ordinary citizens took on the critical task of documenting the widespread atrocities they witnessed. In an effort to safeguard these records, advocacy organizations Witness and Activate Rights launched the Bangladesh Protest Archive (BPA), a dedicated platform to preserve the memory of the uprising and to protect, categorize, and investigate the vast collection of videos, audio clips, and photographs that captured human rights violations during this historic movement.

 

The archive’s core mission is to collect and preserve evidence of the grave abuses committed, ensuring it is not lost to censorship or manipulation, and to assist in future accountability processes. In pursuit of justice, BPA is now collaborating with Netra News, a Sweden-based investigative and public interest media outlet, to investigate incidents case by case and identify perpetrators responsible for violence and repression.

 

 

The Bangladesh Protest Archive is not alone. Following the fall of the Hasina regime, numerous community-led initiatives have emerged, each focusing on collecting, preserving, and amplifying evidence of the atrocities committed during the July uprising.

 

Groups such as the July Revolutionary Alliance, Red July, Reliable Tales, July Records, July Massacre Archive, and Tales of July have been established by protesters, students, and volunteers determined to bear witness and document crucial evidence and testimony. While many of these grassroots efforts lack formal archival training or systematic resources, their contribution to the archiving efforts has been invaluable. They serve as vital hubs for evidence collection, helping ensure that the truth of July 2024 is not erased.

 

These archives, built through collective memory and grassroots resistance, represent a new kind of justice-seeking movement, one that is decentralized, community-driven, and powered by the courage to remember.

Footage Survived. Will Justice?

 

While videos documenting the brutality during the student-led mass protests have been widely circulated on social media, many remain unverified and poorly preserved. Crucial metadata, such as geo-locations, timestamps, and identities, is often missing or unclear, which not only complicates legal accountability efforts, but also weakens the credibility of these videos in media reporting and in public discourse.

 

Qadruddin Shishir, former FactCheck Editor at AFP Bangladesh, has been analyzing video evidence of police violence and attacks since the start of the movement. He told Activate Rights​​​​​​​:

 

“There are many videos that could not be analyzed, making it difficult to identify the attackers and locations. This poses a significant challenge in seeking justice for the killings this month. Additionally, genuine videos are being labeled as fake, and fake videos are spreading, which, if not properly verified, could severely disrupt the judicial process.”

 

 

Beyond legal use, unverified videos also risk being discredited in newsrooms, dismissed by public audiences, or weaponized in disinformation campaigns—undermining both truth-telling and community memory. As the government attempts to erase or rewrite the history of the uprising, the integrity of people’s footage becomes even more critical—not just for trials, but for truth.

 

This is why many digital investigators and archivists have emphasized the urgent need for an efficient and methodical archiving effort. It’s not just about courtroom evidence—it’s about preserving a record for journalists, educators, future generations, and the movement itself. WITNESS continues to work with local partners to build verification and archiving capacity, emphasizing the need for secure, ethical, and evidentiary-grade documentation.

What We Record Together, We Stand For Together

 

In the aftermath of the Monsoon Uprising, an interim government was established in Bangladesh, with Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus appointed as Chief Advisor. The transitional government includes student representatives, reflecting the grassroots spirit of the revolution. There is widespread national and international expectation that this new government will prosecute those responsible for crimes committed under the previous regime.

 

However, after one year of uprising, the pursuit of justice still depends heavily on the quality, integrity, and preservation of the visual evidence. Without properly archived and verified documentation of the human rights violations, holding perpetrators accountable may remain elusive.

 

The path to justice is long, but through organized archiving, credible verification, and global solidarity, the truth captured on camera can eventually lead to real accountability. As part of this effort, WITNESS continues to work alongside Bangladeshi activists and communities to fortify the right to document the truth, strengthen video verification skills, and support the safeguarding of people’s footage as powerful evidence.