July’s promise cannot belong to the few who inherited its power

This is an opinion piece published in The Daily Star (Bangladesh) on August 5, 2026, written by Nuzia Hasin Rasha, a student activist and freelance writer. The article argues that the democratic promise of Bangladesh's July 2024 uprising — which briefly united diverse groups including workers, women, students, Indigenous peoples, and marginalized communities against authoritarian rule — has been progressively undermined by a narrowing political project that reproduces the same exclusionary hierarchies it originally sought to dismantle. The main topics covered include the co-optation of the uprising's revolutionary energy by emerging political elites focused on consolidating state power rather than transforming society; the marginalization of women despite their central role in the uprising, evidenced by institutional inaction on harassment and misogynistic rhetoric at events like the May 2025 Hefazat rally; and a pattern of attacks on minorities and pluralistic institutions — including Indigenous students, religious minorities, and cultural organizations — reflecting what the author characterizes as a broader right-wing restructuring of post-July politics. The author concludes that genuine revolution requires ensuring those who made the uprising possible are not excluded from shaping Bangladesh's political future.

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The Daily Star

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The Daily Star

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