How Bangladesh’s ‘Gen Z’ protests brought down PM Sheikh Hasina

Here's what happened

Protests began in Bangladesh last month over a controversial government job-quota system and transformed into nationwide unrest following a harsh crackdown by authorities. Nearly 300 people were killed within weeks in one of the most violent phases of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.

On July 21, the Supreme Court scaled back the quota, which reserved one-third of government jobs for descendants of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War veterans.

But anti-protest rhetoric by Sheikh Hasina aided by police crackdown and attacks on protesters by groups affiliated with the ruling Awami League party galvanised a mass movement against the Hasina government.

On August 4, nearly 100 people were killed in a police crackdown, causing outrage. A day later, Hasina was forced to resign and flee the country, ending her 15-year rule.

The anger was such that even the statues of her father, the freedom icon Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman, were toppled and defaced.

Al Jazeera examines the events and the unfolding of Bangladesh's month-long protest.

The High Court reinstated the quota system, overturning a 2018 decision by Prime Minister Hasina's government to scrap it.

The court’s verdict triggered the initial protests led by university students.

The students stepped up their protests when Hasina refused to meet their demands, citing the court proceedings. She called the protesters "Razakar", a deeply offensive term for those accused of collaborating with Pakistan's army during the 1971 liberation war.

Students start protests demanding an end to job quotas

By mid-July, the protests turned violent after Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling party, along with the police attacked student protesters in the