A year ago today, student protesters announced that they would demonstrate across the country the next day by covering their faces in red cloth.
The government announced in the afternoon of July 29 that the nation would mourn those killed in the quota reform movement the next day.
It called on citizens to wear black badges and offer prayers at religious institutions across the country in remembrance of those killed during the movement.
The protesters rejected the government decision.
Around 9:30pm, a coordinator of Students Against Discrimination, Mahin Sarkar, sent text messages to reporters, urging people to wear red and upload photos on social media.
The announcement drew an immediate and widespread response from students, citizens, and public figures who changed their social media profile pictures to red in solidarity.
Earlier that day, students had already staged demonstrations and sit-ins nationwide, demanding an end to abductions and arbitrary arrests, the release of detainees, withdrawal of false cases, and justice for those killed during previous protests.
They also rejected that six central coordinators of the movement, who were in the custody of detectives, had announced the end of the protests.
Despite heavy deployment of security forces, protests were held in Dhaka, Jahangirnagar University, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Chattogram, Rajshahi, Cumilla, Barishal, Thakurgaon, Bogura, Jashore, and Noakhali. Several demonstrators were detained amid ongoing mass arrests.
At least 50 students were reportedly detained in the capital alone.
The curfew was briefly relaxed and most government offices and public services operated normally. From early morning, law enforcement personnel were stationed in key areas. Rab helicopters patrolled overhead, while army teams were seen on the streets.
That night, leaders of the 14-party alliance met Sheikh Hasina at the Ganabhaban and unanimously agreed to support a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Following the meeting, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader accused the BNP, Jamaat, Chhatra Dal, and Shibir of conspiring with extremist groups to undermine the country's independence and sovereignty.
Also on that day, a National People's Inquiry Commission was formed to investigate alleged killings, shootings, arrests, and torture during the movement.
The initiative followed a human chain by lawyers in front of the Supreme Court under the banner: "We Demand Justice for Mass Killings; End Enforced Disappearances, Arrests and Torture."
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, meanwhile, rejected the government's official death toll, citing media reports that indicated significantly higher numbers.
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