The July Uprising was a pro-democracy mass uprising against the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh. The movement began as a quota reform protest shortly after the High Court Division of the Supreme Court invalidated a 2018 government circular on 5 June 2024, effectively restoring quotas. However, government law enforcement agencies and some members of the ruling party conducted widespread suppression, resulting in numerous protester deaths, an event referred to as the July massacre. The movement evolved into a full-scale uprising, ultimately leading to Resignation of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024.

Early phase

5 June High Court reestablished the job quota that reserves 30% of the civil service posts for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters in the Bangladesh Liberation War.

6 June Six universities performed peaceful protests against the quota ruling.

The protests subsided due to the Eid al-Adha celebrations but resumed shortly after the holiday.

7 July Students staged a blockade, and demanded the rescinding of the quota.

Bangla Blockade and Chhatra League attacks

10 July At the University of Dhaka, a protest march began in front of the library at approximately 11:00 AM, passed by the Anti Terrorism Raju Memorial Sculpture, and ended with a blockade of the Shahbag intersection. Members of the law and order forces positioned barricades in front of the students. In the afternoon, the Appellate Division issued a four-week stay on the High Court's ruling, which had reinstated the quota system. The Chief Justice urged the students to return to their classes. Dhaka's transport system came to a standstill due to the blockade in various parts of Dhaka. Long-distance buses and trains were stopped due to the agitation.

Police attacked protesting students of Cumilla University.

11 July The blockade in Shahbag was supposed to start from 03:00 PM but due to rain, the students crossed the police barricade on their way to Shahbagh and started later at 04:30 PM. Dhaka College students retreated due to police barricades and Dhaka University students joined the students of Jagannath University. Apart from Shahbag, other places in Dhaka were unaffected by the movement. At 09:00 PM, the students ended their agitation and announced a protest march and rally on 12 July to protest the violent police attack on them.

12 July At 05:00 PM, students gathered at Shahbag and staged a blockade in the area.

While students were protesting at Comilla Victoria College, a group of Chhatra League members launched an attack on the protesters. During the situation, a student who was recording a video was taken to a hall and beaten by the Chhatra League members.

13 July Students protested by blocking the railway tracks in Rajshahi. In Dhaka, DU students held a press conference in the evening, where they complained that attempts were being made to block the students' movement with lawsuits.

14 July

Students marched in Dhaka and held a sit-in protest and blockade, later submitting a memorandum to President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

In response to a controversial statement by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a press conference in which she reportedly called quota reform protesters the children of Razakars (collaborators during the Bangladesh Liberation War), students organized a midnight demonstration on the Dhaka University campus (see Razakar remarks). Female students from Rokeya Hall joined the protest by breaking the lock put up by the authorities at the dorm gate.

The government instructed operators to shut down the 4G network in the University of Dhaka area. At around 11:30 PM, leaders and members of the Chhatra League attacked protesters at the University of Chittagong injuring 13 protesters.

15 July The attacks against the protesters began soon after the ruling Awami League general secretary said on Monday that the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling party, was ready to give a fitting reply to quota protesters for their 'arrogant behaviour.'

In Jashore at around 12:00 pm, students from Jashore University of Science and Technology and Michael Madhusudan College staged a protest, where a member of the Chhatra League attacked and injured a protester.

In Dhaka, Members of the Chhatra League started their procession to Shahbag from Segunbagicha near Department of Fisheries (Bangladesh) at around 03:45 PM.

Later in the evening, Chhatra League members attacked students inside Bijoy Ekattor Hall of Dhaka University, where some of the attackers were seen shooting with pistols and carrying sticks. In response, the protesters also threw brickbats from the inside of the hall to retaliate. While covering the protest in the University of Dhaka, two journalists from The Daily Star and Prothom Alo were assaulted and injured in the attack carried out by the Chhatra League.

At 5:30 pm, members of the Chhatra League attempted to attack the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where over 200 students injured in the clashes were seeking treatment. After several attempts throughout the afternoon, Chhatra League members, some wearing helmets, forcibly entered DMCH around 7:30 PM and initiated an attack. Many were observed carrying rods and Chinese axes. They targeted students already injured in the quota reform movement and vandalized several ambulances parked at DMCH.

Later the same evening, an attack carried out by the Chhatra League Rajshahi branch at Rajshahi University left six students injured, including the joint convenor of the Bangladesh Students Union at RU.

In Cumilla, The Cumilla University coordinator of the Students Against Discrimination was assaulted at around 8:00 pm when eight Chhatra League members called him to check his phone and beat him.

The protesters called for nation-wide demonstrations and rallies in all educational institutions of the country at 03:00 pm on 16 July.

16 July

At around 12:15 am, members of the Chhatra League attacked Jahangirnagar University students using firearms. The students took shelter at the vice-chancellor's residence after breaking its lock. Around 300 Chhatra League members, armed with galvanised pipes and sticks, threw bricks and glass bottles at the students. Shots were reportedly fired, injuring two journalists (including one from Dhaka Tribune) and over 50 student protesters.

Police arrived to control the situation, while both groups positioned themselves outside the vice-chancellor's residence. Students claimed the attackers included outsiders, some in their forties. Later, the sub-inspector of the Ashulia Police Department blamed the students, stating that the protesters were responsible for causing 'this mayhem'.

A violent incident involving police and students demanding quota reforms took place in front of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur between 2:30 PM and 3:00 PM. Police resorted to lathi charges and firing during the incident. According to Dr. Md. Yunus Ali, Director of Rangpur Medical College, a Begum Rokeya University student named Abu Sayed died after being brought to the hospital with gunshot wounds.

At around 3:30 PM, it was reported that in the Farmgate–Khamarbari area, Chhatra League assailants attacked protestors with sticks. When the protestors took shelter in the Farmgate metro station, the assailants entered and started to beat the students, which was witnessed by the passengers. Police were allegedly deployed to control the situation. However, DMTCL, the authority responsible for the operation for the Dhaka Metro Rail, denied these claims and stated that guards of the station drove the "miscreants" away as they entered with bamboo sticks. They also stated that there was no damage to the station. However, they announced plans to close some of the gates of the station complex for some time to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

As students at public universities were forcefully vacated, students from various schools, colleges, and private universities joined the cause. They protested and blocked roads against the violence of the Chhatra League in the quota reform movement.

Students of North South University, Independent University Bangladesh and BRAC University protested at and around their respective premises areas at Bashundhara Residential Area and Merul Badda with the blockade set up by the students extending up to Baridhara, the streets in front of the Jamuna Future Park mall, the largest mall in the country, Notun Bazar, Badda, and Kuril, causing gridlock to its neighboring areas as well, including Rampura, Banasree, Badda Link Road and Abul Hotel area in Malibagh.

Students of University of Scholars, Primeasia University and Fareast International University blocked the Banani area. Students of Notre Dame College, Dhaka protested in the country's main financial hub and the largest central business district of Motijheel at Shapla Square. Students of Daffodil International University also made an attempt to start a demonstration at the road, but instead protested on-campus. Students of other universities and colleges also joined the protests. Protests also took place in Dhanmondi, specifically in front of the Science Laboratory area and in Uttara. Gridlocks were also experienced at places like Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Mirpur Road, and Gabtoli.

Students blocked railway lines in Chattogram and Mohakhali. The Dhaka–Chattogram, Dhaka–Khulna, Dhaka-Rajshahi, Dhaka–Rangpur and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways were also blocked.

In the evening, the Ministry of Education announced the indefinite closure of schools and colleges and the postponing of the HSC exam scheduled for 18 July.

The UGC declared that all public and private universities across the country will remain closed until further notice. At the same time, all affiliated medical, textile, engineering and other colleges will also remain closed. The commission also directed university authorities to vacate residential halls allegedly considering safety of the students.

In remembrance of the fallen, the movement announced a symbolic funeral prayer scheduled for 17 July.

17 July

Clashes erupted with police after the funeral prayer program organized by the student protesters, BNP and other parties to honor six individuals killed on 16 July for the quota reform movement.

The government ordered all students to vacate the residential halls. The protestors rejected the order, to which the authorities deployed police to evacuate the halls. Students who blocked the Dhaka–Bhanga Expressway announced a total shutdown for 18 July, allowing only emergency services, to protest police violence, demand justice for the deceased, and call for a terror-free campus.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed the nation at 7:30 pm, where she announced a judicial probe into the deaths during the anti-quota protests and urged patience until the Supreme Court delivers its verdict, emphasizing justice for the students and condemning the violence.

Students at the university erected the Shaheed Smriti Stambha, a memorial pillar to honor the memory of the dead students.

Complete Shutdown

18 July In the morning police clashed with BRAC University students on the streets of Badda. Police also used batons and fired tear gas canisters at the students, while lobbing tear gas shells at the BRACU campus. Dhaka Metro Mirpur-10 station was closed for arson at a foot-overbridge just beneath it. Reports indicated that approximately 30 students were killed by the Bangladesh police.

Minister of Law Anisul Haque urged the students to withdraw their movement.

The Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion, Bangladesh Bank, Prime Minister Office and Chhatra League's official website was hacked by a pro-protester group as a response to the violence and attacks carried out by the police and the Chhatra League.