36 July: Uprising In Bangladesh | Ep. 5 - March to Dhaka

Summary

Podcast Summary: Al Jazeera Investigates

Episode: 36 July: Uprising In Bangladesh | Ep. 5 - March to Dhaka
Date: September 18, 2025
Host: Kevin Hurton

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Main Theme and Purpose

This emotionally charged episode chronicles the dramatic final hours of the July 2024 uprising in Bangladesh, focusing on the mass march to Dhaka that forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from office. Using firsthand testimonies, on-the-ground reporting, and analysis, the episode explores the human cost of the revolution, the unraveling of dynastic politics, and the power of collective action in the face of state violence.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Personal Loss Amid Uprising

• Abul Hussain’s Story (00:24–06:27)
  • Personalizes the cost of the protest through Abul Hussain’s account of his daughter Nasifa, a student activist killed on August 5.
  • Describes his frantic efforts to reach her after learning she was shot.
  • Highlights the sense of personal tragedy amidst public jubilation as Hasina flees, marking the bloodiest day of the uprising.
  • Quote:
    • "She called me and she says, I am going towards Kana Bhavan. If victory comes, praise be to Allah. And if it does not, then you will know." — Abul Hussain (01:14)
    • "She called me...Dad, I don't think I'll survive. Come get my body. I'm going to die." — Abul Hussain (03:17)

2. Mass Mobilization and Escalating Violence

• Witness Accounts of the March (08:17–19:57)
  • Andalieb Choudhary describes the scale and unity of protesters in Dhaka—CEOs, workers, beggars alike marched as one.
    • "The country united, where literally CEOs and businessmen and servants and drivers and street people and beggars and anybody who is a Bengali was walking." — Andalieb Choudhary (09:50)
  • Zeena Tazreen (Daily Star) recounts confusion caused by an Internet blackout and fear amid reports of shootings.
    • "There was another Internet blackout on the 5th of August in the morning. And it went on for 2, 3, 4 hours...we can hear gunshots and police were cracking down..." — Zeena Tazreen (08:57)
  • Shahidul Alam notes the risk unarmed people took: "They want freedom. They demand freedom, and they will extract it whatever the cost." (10:28)
  • Jaw-dropping moments as police and regime-backed gangs fire on protesters. Maliha Namla, a university student, vividly tells of surviving a shooting and the desperation to save wounded friends.
    • "We started marching, giving the slogan, we came here to die, so shoot us." — Maliha Namla (15:43)
    • "Police were there, so they got terrified. So they started shooting." — Maliha Namla (17:07)

3. Sheikh Hasina’s Final Hours in Power

• Inside the Bunker (11:56–15:12)
  • The episode details Hasina’s isolation and growing desperation.
  • Her reluctance to resign, escalating demands that security forces fire on protesters.
    • "She was asking the chief of the army staff, why are you not clearing all the people by shooting? The police is doing a very good job. They are killing the people." — Tajil Islam (12:30)
  • Army leaders refuse: "We cannot kill our own people." — Tajil Islam (13:39)
  • Emotional scenes as Hasina’s sister pleads for her resignation and safety becomes paramount (14:04–14:45).

4. Mythmaking and the Downfall of Dynastic Politics

• Historical Flashback with Tamera Khandikar (21:10–27:32)
  • Explores Hasina’s lifelong project to tie her legitimacy to her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, “Father of the Nation.”
    • “Hasina links the AAMI League's legitimacy directly to 1971 and her father's leadership. She is his heir and promises to finish what he started.” — Tamera Khandikar (24:15)
  • Generational gaps and growing resentment towards “bloodline politics”—young protesters want meritocracy, not inherited power.
    • "They are not looking backward. They're worried about youth unemployment. They're angry about corruption, censorship and cronyism.” — Tamera Khandikar (26:21)
  • Growing criticism: Hasina seen as out of touch, authoritarian, and betraying the legacy she invoked.
    • “The final verdict on 36 July. Hasina was no longer protecting the legacy of Sheikh Mujib. She was betraying it.” — Tamera Khandikar (27:32)

5. The Fall and Exile of Hasina

• Moments of Confirmation and Public Reaction (28:14–34:43)
  • Rumors of Hasina’s exit ripple through the crowds; official military confirmation brings tears of joy and sadness for the lives lost.
    • "We burst into tears. People were crying on the streets. People were hugging each other, but we kept walking because nobody believed." — Andalieb Choudhary (28:29)
    • "I never saw the people of Bangladesh so happy in my lifetime." — Prapti Taposhi (30:22)
  • Behind the scenes: military hustles Hasina and family into exile as crowds close in on the palace (32:01–32:25).
  • Protesters storm the former seat of power, claiming it as their own.

6. Reflection: The Movement’s Meaning and Bangladesh’s Future

• Reclaiming the State (34:43–39:58)
  • Protesters describe newfound freedom after years of authoritarian rule.
    • "We got the taste of freedom that time. Yes, we can say whatever we want and there is no one to catch, no one to spy us." — Tajil Islam (34:18)
    • “Finally, the country united..." — Andalieb Choudhary (36:45)
  • The meaning of martyrdom and hopes for justice.
    • “If what Abu Sad died for… justice, fairness and a system that values merit, if there is [none] established… his soul will never be at peace.” — Shahidul Alam (39:07)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "She was certain that she would die, that I would not find her by the time I got there." — Abul Hussain (04:11)
• “The army knew from early that day that Sheikh Hasina had fallen, but not the police.” — Kevin Hurton (12:39)
• "This sense, if you are Bengali, you owe this to me, is probably something that people resented. She's not the mother of the nation. She's his daughter and our elected prime minister." — Andalieb Choudhary (37:01)
• “She distorted history. She would say that my father gave you independence… people still have memories of that time and the way she was lying and exaggerating.” — Zeena Tazreen (37:31)
• "She lost no time in making her feed them and essentially is by far the most hated person we've ever had in this nation." — Shahidul Alam (38:06)
• "If we, if we turn back and face them, we will liberate Bangladesh.” — Kevin Hurton, summarizing protester sentiment (11:03)
• “The real heroes of Bangladesh are our garment workers, our migrant workers, our farmers in the field. And they are very much true to the cause.” — Shahidul Alam (39:38)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:24–06:45: Abul Hussain’s story and the cost of activism
• 08:17–11:56: Mobilization of the masses; escalation of state violence
• 13:15–15:12: Hasina’s last moments in power; army’s refusal to use force
• 21:10–27:32: Flashback—building and breaking the dynastic myth
• 28:14–33:07: News of Hasina’s exile; collective reaction and symbolic end
• 34:43–40:04: Reclaiming power, reflections on freedom, and vision for Bangladesh’s future

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Tone and Style

• The narrative is emotionally resonant, blending heartbreak, defiance, and hope.
• Speakers relay trauma and loss but also pride and unity in shared resistance.
• Analysis is at once personal and political, connecting individual stories to the broader trajectory of Bangladeshi history.

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Conclusion

Episode 5—March to Dhaka documents a pivotal turning point in Bangladeshi history, culminating in the ouster of a long-standing autocratic leader by an extraordinary people’s movement. Through intimate interviews, historical analysis, and gripping accounts from the ground, it asks what kind of nation will emerge from such seismic change—and whether the sacrifices made can pave the way for a just and inclusive future.

Transcript

[Kevin Hurton]

Al jazeera podcasts.

[Abul Hussain]

After finishing her studies, Nafisa's dream was to become a doctor.

[Kevin Hurton]

This is Abul Hussain talking about his daughter Nassifa. He's a proud dad. His daughter was a committed student.

[Abul Hussain]

Her studies were ongoing, final exam.

[Kevin Hurton]

But she was also a committed activist, which means he spent the July uprising worried sick about her. On the morning of August 5, 2024, Nasifa was filled with optimism and called her dad, exuberant.

[Abul Hussain]

She called me and she says, I am going towards Kana Bhavan. If victory comes, praise be to Allah. And if it does not, then you will know.

[Kevin Hurton]

He worried about her being out on the streets. So he checked in constantly throughout the uprising. No matter what she was doing, she would always pick up, even just for a second, to put him at ease. Later that morning, he called her again. But something was off.

[Abul Hussain]

A boy picks up on the other side.

[Kevin Hurton]

His heart drops.

[Abul Hussain]

He says, who are you? I ask, why? What happened? The boy says, come quick. The girl whose phone this is, she has been shot.

[Kevin Hurton]

Full blown panic now. He drops everything and runs.

[Abul Hussain]

At that time, traveling those 35 kilometers was very tough. I did not close the shop. I left it open and I ran. I didn't have any money in my pocket. I got to the main road, which is half a kilometer from my house.

[Kevin Hurton]

But today of all days, travel is nearly impossible.

[Abul Hussain]

On the main road. I see thousands of people in that crowd. I was lost. There was no cars on the road. I had no idea what to do or which way to go.

[Kevin Hurton]

That's when his phone rings again. It's Nasifa. She says, dad, I don't think I'll survive. Come get my body. I'm going to die.

[Abul Hussain]

When she said this, I could not hold myself together.

[Kevin Hurton]

He catches himself picturing what his daughter must have went through just to place that call.

[Abul Hussain]

If my daughter had not been brave, she could not have called me. She didn't ask me how far I was. She only said this much,

[Kevin Hurton]

That I will die.

[Abul Hussain]

She was certain that she would die, that I would not find her by the time I got there.

[Kevin Hurton]

But a father can't accept that. He knows he has to at least try to get to her.

[Abul Hussain]

There was not a single rickshaw, bus, motorcycle, nothing. So I kept running. I actually could not feel the pain in my body.

[Kevin Hurton]

Then he gets the call that he's been dreading. Nasifa's uncle is on the phone. He says, brother, your daughter is no more.

[Abul Hussain]

Come as quickly as you can. I am taking her body home.

[Kevin Hurton]

He's still running. But now the pain comes flooding back into his muscles.

[Abul Hussain]

From that point on, I could feel the pain in my body. Still, I did not stop running.

[Kevin Hurton]

It was 3pm Aug. 5, 2024. His daughter had been killed after Sheikh Hasina had stepped down and fled. The. All around him, people were jubilant, hugging and crying tears of joy. He was in complete shock, unable to compute it all. Hasina's last day in power also proved to be the bloodiest single day of the uprising.

[Abul Hussain]

August 5th ended everything. My dream is over. Our dream now is a beautiful Bangladesh. All the people of Bangladesh want a beautiful Bangladesh.

[Kevin Hurton]

This is al jazeera investigates. I'm kevin hirton. Welcome to the 36 July uprising in Bangladesh. Episode 5 March to Taka. The 36th of July is what the students call the 5th of August 2024. They had promised that the month of July wouldn't end without victory. So they extended the month, five days as a tribute to their triumph. Sitting here today, of course we know how this story ends. But as dawn broke on that hot summer day, it was still anyone's guess. Here's what was known at the time. Hundreds of thousands of people, the largest mass protest yet, were planning to flood the streets of the Capitol. The previous day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's national security team assured her they could hold the city. According to the un, a plan was agreed where army and Bangladesh border guards would deploy alongside police to block protesters from accessing Central Thaka if necessary by force.

[Andalieb Choudhary]

From 6am the stream of people started. Sea of black heads, sea of color, sea of people coming.

[Kevin Hurton]

This is Andalieb Choudhary, an English professor. She says she watched the streets fill up as the day went along.

[Andalieb Choudhary]

First it was a trickle. 20, 30, 40 people, hundreds, thousands. By 10am you could not see the streets. You could not see the streets. For the people.

[Kevin Hurton]

Communication was a problem from the start, says reporter Zeena Tazreen of Bangladesh's largest English language newspaper, the Daily Star.

[Zeena Tazreen]

There was another Internet blackout on the 5th of August in the morning. And it went on for 2, 3, 4 hours. And I kept getting texts from friends and family that okay, there are shootouts, we can hear gunshots and police were cracking down on gathering crowd. So things are not looking good.

[Kevin Hurton]

By mid morning, a change of government seemed a long way off.

[Zeena Tazreen]

We all thought that okay, Internet shut down and we are hearing violence, that that means we are back to square one. It's like we were supposed to get rid of her today and she has gathered strength.

[Kevin Hurton]

But the people Just kept coming and coming.

[Andalieb Choudhary]

The buildings were emptying out, offices were being closed, and everybody got onto the streets. The country united, where literally CEOs and businessmen and servants and drivers and street people and beggars and anybody who is a Bengali was walking.

[Shahidul Alam]

So this, in a sense, it talks about how widespread it was.

[Kevin Hurton]

Here's famous Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Olam.

[Shahidul Alam]

These are people, unarmed people, people with absolutely nothing have come onto the streets because they believe in freedom. They want freedom. They demand freedom, and they will extract it whatever the cost.

[Kevin Hurton]

And make no mistake, people were putting their lives at risk by being out there.

[Shahidul Alam]

We were stopped in the streets by the police. They fired on our group. Three of us got hit.

[Kevin Hurton]

Both sides were showing no sign of backing down.

[Andalieb Choudhary]

On the morning of the 5th, after one of the worst massacres had happened on the 4th already, we were sure it was a civil war, but so

[Kevin Hurton]

far it was really just the police and the armed Awami League student gangs doing the shooting. The army was hanging back. Everyone wanted to know how would the army respond? Nobody can stop us from marching today. If we, if we turn back and face them, we will liberate Bangladesh. And I want to tell my armed forces brothers not to align with the autocrat. Either you be with the people or stay neutral.

[Andalieb Choudhary]

We knew if the army took the position against the people, the people weren't going to stop. When you looked around, we weren't going to die. There were too many of us.

[Kevin Hurton]

Back at Sheikhsina's official residence in the center of Taka, the mood was sour early that morning during a meeting with the heads of the armed forces were told Defense advisor Major General Tariq Ahmed Siddiqui gently raised the idea that she should maybe resign. She was not having it and refused outright. A lot of her ire was directed at the army, which she felt wasn't doing enough killing, says Tajil Islam, who is prosecuting the Awami League government for the student killings.

[Tajil Islam]

She was asking the chief of the army staff, why are you not clearing all the people by shooting? The police is doing a very good job. They are killing the people.

[Kevin Hurton]

According to the un, she was right, actually, quote. Police and armed Duwami League supporters fired at protesters in many locations. The army and BGB largely stood by and led the protesters march. One police commander told UN investigators the army knew from early that day that Sheikh Hasina had fallen, but not the police. So the police were out there still defending the government. Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina is still in a bunker mentality. She was lashing out, feeling Betrayed and bewildered at what was happening to her.

[Tajil Islam]

The persons who were around the prime minister, they said during her last few hours, she was so arrogant and so desperate.

[Kevin Hurton]

But as the morning progressed, the country was rendering a verdict. The numbers were unbelievable. Hundreds of thousands heading straight for them. It started to dawn on nearly everyone what was happening. Everyone but her.

[Tajil Islam]

She was still persuading the army officers and the other law enforcing agency chiefs, you should try to kill the people and keep me in power. When finally the army chief and the navy chief, air force chief and other senior officials, they denied that they cannot do it because thousands of people are there. We cannot kill our own people.

[Kevin Hurton]

Sheikh Rehana, Hasina's younger sister, who has flown to Taka to try to talk some sense into her, reportedly threw herself to the ground, clung to Hasina's feet, begging her to step down.

[Tajil Islam]

One stage she became so emotional that she was saying, in that case, you should kill me right now and bury me here in the ground of the ganohavan.

[Kevin Hurton]

At some point, what Sheikh Hasina wanted stopped being a factor. They had to consider her safety. In the late morning, the army chief told the then prime minister that the army would not be able to prevent protesters from reaching her residence.

[Tajil Islam]

The army chief was saying, you have only 40 minutes to leave these premises. Otherwise the people will come and they will destroy everything. That will be the end of everything. The best thing we suggest is that you should step down and leave the country.

[Kevin Hurton]

The momentum may have been turning, but for many, many people on the march that morning, the situation on the ground was as dangerous as ever.

[Maliha Namla]

We were 200 to 300 people.

[Kevin Hurton]

Jahangirnagar University student Maliha Namla had a long walk ahead of her. It was 35 km from her campus to Taka.

[Maliha Namla]

When we started, we started marching, giving the slogan, we came here to die, so shoot us. We have a storm in our chest, so shoot us in our chest. This was the slogan and this was inspired by Abu Said.

[Kevin Hurton]

And that was the slogan of the revolution.

[Maliha Namla]

Yes, yes.

[Kevin Hurton]

We first met Maliha in episode one. She recorded a Facebook live video that helped save her fellow students from being killed by armed gangs. At her vice chancellor's house. She says their small march gathered steam as they went.

[Maliha Namla]

Suddenly, the march was flooded with people and I can't count the people. I cannot see the last of the.

[Kevin Hurton]

Along the route is a police station in an area called Savar. She says they all knew police would attack them there, but they hoped that their great numbers would protect them.

[Maliha Namla]

We were thinking, how many police are There, there will be 100, 200, 300, but we were 20 or 30,000 people.

[Kevin Hurton]

But in this case, their huge numbers worked to their disadvantage. The police got spooked.

[Maliha Namla]

Police were there, so they got terrified. So they started shooting.

[Kevin Hurton]

The bullets weren't coming straight at them. They were coming from above.

[Maliha Namla]

It was from the roof of the Mercates there. And chatuliks and Jubileks were shooting us. So we started running,

[Kevin Hurton]

But the bullets kept coming. Students around her were dropping.

[Maliha Namla]

From the right side of me. One was shot at his head and he was dead.

[Kevin Hurton]

Took cover behind a barricade. As she was diving for safety, she says a boy next to her was shot in the leg. His knee was shattered.

[Maliha Namla]

I saw that he fell down. He was bleeding. I stand there. I couldn't run. I'm really a weak person physically. I cannot carry him.

[Kevin Hurton]

There were no good options here. She didn't know what to do.

[Maliha Namla]

I cannot leave him behind, because if I leave him behind, he will die bleeding.

[Kevin Hurton]

All she could do was try to calm him down.

[Maliha Namla]

He was terrified and I was giving him courage. But the police was so near to us, continuously throwing tear shells and bullets.

[Kevin Hurton]

Another boy showed up and they tried to get him to safety. They were moving too slow. They were sitting ducks. The police were approaching fast.

[Maliha Namla]

Two boys came in front of the police, taking the life risk and carry him to his shoulder. And we then run. And after that we realized that the bullets were coming from Savar City center's rooftop.

[Kevin Hurton]

They were shooting with rifles.

[Maliha Namla]

Yeah, the bullets were so huge. So we were trying to be united to attack the building and cats who killed our brothers around us.

[Kevin Hurton]

So now, rather than spending their morning on a freedom march, Maliha and her friends suddenly find themselves conducting a weaponless siege.

[Maliha Namla]

So at that time, I had a phone call and I heard that Sheikh Hasina is go.

[Kevin Hurton]

For so long, it seemed like this day would never come. Hasina was a fixture, an inextricable part of the fabric of Bangladesh. She didn't just hold power, she became part of the country's story. After the break, producer Tamer Khandikar with how she made that possible. We live in a world where the news is at our fingertips, but how often do we stop scrolling and just listen. I'm Malika Bilal, and this is the Take Al Jazeera's daily news podcast, where we bring you the context and the people behind the global stories that matter. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, so I'm back with producer Tamera Khandikar. Hi, Tamera Hey, Kevin. So throughout this series, you've been giving us these amazing flashbacks into Sheikh Hasina's life. How her personal story intersects with the story of Bangladesh. What were you hoping to illustrate with these historical portraits?

[Tamera Khandikar]

So, for me, it's been about trying to understand how we got here, trying to square the jacina that I'd heard about growing up, this beacon of progress who lifted millions of people out of poverty with the reality of what happened last summer. By the end, she was despised by so many people from across the country. But that wasn't always the case. She had built her career on her father's legacy as Bangladesh's liberator. And she really was this symbol of hope, of democracy. So how do you go from that to being seen as such a villain, an autocrat in the eyes of your own people? And the more I looked, the more it all seems to tie back to Sheikh Mujib, the myth that she built around her connection to him, the way it became the foundation of her rise and in the end, a part of her undoing.

[Kevin Hurton]

And for each flashback, you've selected a specific date. What is the final date you've selected?

[Tamera Khandikar]

May 17, 1981. Sheikh Hasina steps off a plane in Dhaka to a hero's welcome. Crowds line the streets, cheering as she makes her way home. It's been six years since her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding father, was assassinated in his home, along with nearly every other member of her family. Time has done wonders to Mujib's reputation, and Sheikh Hasina knows it. She's been elected president of his party, the Awami League, while in exile. Now she's back, ready to recast the party's identity around her father's legacy.

[Kevin Hurton]

My people love me and I love them. I can give my life for them. The question doesn't arise. I have no self interest.

[Tajil Islam]

They know it.

[Tamera Khandikar]

In her speech that day, she steps into the role of the martyr's daughter, saying she's ready to serve the country and uphold the ideals of Banga Bondhu, friend of Bengal, the honorific given to her father for his leadership during the independence movement. She invokes his name over and over. The father of the nation, the liberator of the Bengali people. And she never stops. Here's Shafiqul Alom, spokesperson for the interim government. On her speeches almost every day, every

[Shafiqul Alom]

speech, in the third or fourth paragraph of her speech, she would talk about the assassination of her father, her mother, the kind of sacrifice her family has made.

[Tamera Khandikar]

Hasina links the AAMI League's legitimacy directly to 1971 and her father's leadership. She is his heir and promises to finish what he started.

[Zeena Tazreen]

Those who committed crimes, violator women set

[Kevin Hurton]

fire to village after village.

[Zeena Tazreen]

Those who committed genocide, we will try them.

[Kevin Hurton]

Our Father of the nation, Sheikh Mujbir Rahman started the trial.

[Zeena Tazreen]

But the trial was stopped after 15th August 1975.

[Kevin Hurton]

After killing of the Father of the nation on the soil of Bangladesh. Now the trial is going on

[Tamera Khandikar]

as she consolidates her rule. Mujib's image is everywhere. Statues, billboards, on currency and on government buildings renamed in his honor. It is one of the most successful dynastic myth building projects in the history of South Asian politics. And it works.

[Kevin Hurton]

Father of the Nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

[Tamera Khandikar]

is our life and death. But with time, cracks begin to show. Critics say Mujibism starts to feel less like a political philosophy and more like a state ideology. With reverence for Hasina's father woven into school curriculums, mandatory portrait displays, and even the law. For a younger generation, the ones marching in the streets, a lot of this feels out of date. The revolution happened before they were born. For some, even before their parents were born.

[Kevin Hurton]

I don't think children of freedom fighters are the right age for these jobs. They're too old. I don't think the grandchildren of freedom fighters should benefit from the quota, as one generation already has.

[Tamera Khandikar]

They are not looking backward. They're worried about youth unemployment. They're angry about corruption, censorship and cronyism. And when Hasina starts positioning her son as the next in line, students bristle. They don't want bloodline politics, they want meritocracy, reform.

[Shafiqul Alom]

She thought it's her birthright to rule the country. It's only her family who has the right. She always thought like it is her father who created this nation.

[Tamera Khandikar]

By the end, Hesina's rhetorical dependence on her father's hero journey to some, feels out of touch, authoritarian, emotionally disconnected. How dare she invoke his name? The man who fought for freedom to justify crossfire killings, disappearances and mass arrests. The final verdict on 36 July. Hasina was no longer protecting the legacy of Sheikh Mujib. She was betraying it.

[Tajil Islam]

The anger so great that the statue

[Kevin Hurton]

of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, a national hero

[Shafiqul Alom]

who led the country to its independence, was also vandalized.

[Tamera Khandikar]

And the same country that celebrated her arrival at that airport back on May 17, 1981, was now cheering her departure.

[Kevin Hurton]

It started as a rumor, murmurings in the crowd. It was just after midday on August 5, and it seemed like the whole city was gathered around Taka's central square, Shabuga.

[Andalieb Choudhary]

The ripple was the news that she was done. Hasina Palaiste hasina's RUNAWAY. We burst into tears. People were crying on the streets. People were hugging each other, but we kept walking because nobody believed. Just a rumor on the streets.

[Shafiqul Alom]

I called my source in the gonobhorn. What is happening? He told me, she has left, I think 12, 40 or 45. She has left.

[Shahidul Alam]

The speed with which this happened, the total control that Hasina had over absolutely everything, and the fact that she could have been dislodged to that level. On the 5th of August, we started walking to Shabbat. When we got there, we were being garlanded. And it was 15 minutes between being shot at and being garlanded. That's how dramatic it was.

[Kevin Hurton]

But without official confirmation, people were still reluctant to believe it.

[Prapti Taposhi]

When I was walking in front of the Shabbock Square, I was watching people celebrating. I was so confused that, why are you celebrating now? That news is not out yet. We do not yet know what's been happening, so do not celebrate now. I was like, stopping everybody. Don't celebrate. Don't celebrate. We do not know what's next.

[Kevin Hurton]

Everything was in doubt until word came down that the Chief of Army staff, General Walker, was preparing to speak publicly.

[Shafiqul Alom]

I said, okay, God help me. At around 2pm a statement from the military came. And we knew that she has come.

[Prapti Taposhi]

I never saw the people of Bangladesh so happy in my lifetime. The people were laughing. Some of them were shouting in rage, shouting in laughter, and some of them were hugging each other.

[Kevin Hurton]

I was at Shabaab. I sat on the ground and cried every time I saw thousands of comrades had been martyred, thousands were wounded. I would cry. I prayed on the street to thank the Lord.

[Prapti Taposhi]

I just sat on the road and I started crying. And some of my friends, they also hugged me and they started crying as well, because I could not laugh that day. I could not say celebrate that day because there are so many lives that we have lost.

[Kevin Hurton]

Once the decision had been made, the mood at the residence went from defiance to a reluctant acceptance. And the accounts vary depending on who you ask. The Chief of Army Staff says it was a very orderly decision for Hasina to step aside. This is General Walker, the highest ranking military official in the country. She was a little sentimental, but she said, I want to resign. We stopped it. So I think that it was a reasonably peaceful transition.

[Shafiqul Alom]

It happened just because our intervention, former

[Kevin Hurton]

AFP bureau chief Shafikul Alam, who had his own sources, says they ended up having to rush her to safety.

[Shafiqul Alom]

She wanted to take a lot of things. They said no, just take the bare minimum. She wanted to record this speech. They said no, and she was crying. The two military officers said, no one is going to open fire. Just leave the palace.

[Kevin Hurton]

They drove to a World War II era airport nearby.

[Shafiqul Alom]

They took her there, she and her sister.

[Kevin Hurton]

She boarded a helicopter and was soon on her way to a life in exile in India. And not a moment too soon.

[Shafiqul Alom]

They were in mortal fear that each one of them will be lynched to death by this mob.

[Kevin Hurton]

They were right to be concerned because it felt like everyone in the whole city was headed their way. Tens of thousands of people marched on her residence. The Gona Probun student activist Reihan Aten was among them.

[Tajil Islam]

We started from Shabak and on feet I came. And it took almost two hours to reach the end.

[Kevin Hurton]

This building, once off limits, a symbol of unchecked authority, was now open to the public. Or at least no one was going to stop the public from entering.

[Tajil Islam]

People thought, yes, this is our property, we have to reclaim it. We have to be there. I can remember I just crossed over the wall and I.

[Kevin Hurton]

You went over one of these walls?

[Tajil Islam]

Yeah, over the wall. And one of my friends just pushing me from the back and I became inside. And see, see, people are just taking whatever they can. Like they are vandalizing everything. Not out of happiness or out of anything. They just wanted to vandalize it.

[Kevin Hurton]

And vandalize it they did.

[Prapti Taposhi]

Some carried away televisions, chairs, tables, clothes, including lingerie. Then came the food raid. From chickens to fish, the protesters had a feast.

[Tajil Islam]

We got the taste of freedom that time. Yes, we can say whatever we want and there is no one to catch, no one to spy us.

[Kevin Hurton]

And now we're back to where we started in the destroyed and hollowed out Gonopobun, the official residence. Wondering what does it all mean? My God, look at this. The graffiti takes on new meaning now. You see Abu Sayyid's name everywhere. The words Killer Hasina written in big black letters.

[Shahidul Alam]

People talk of her being an astute politician, but this is, I suppose, what happens when you get into a bubble.

[Kevin Hurton]

Photographer Shahidul Alam.

[Shahidul Alam]

All she needed to do, only demand at that time would that she apologized. But of course she was not the apologizing type. And there was no one in her cabinet who had the temerity to be

[Kevin Hurton]

able to tell her that Jahangarnagar University Student leader Prapti Taposhi.

[Prapti Taposhi]

It started as a student movement, but after that, when the students were killed brutally, when the video footages of the students killing were circulated online, my friends, they said, no, we wouldn't run away. So we were standing together, so strong and so firm, hand in hand.

[Kevin Hurton]

Sheikha Sina's government was its own worst enemy. And Prapti watched as new, unexpected allies joined the movement over the final weeks.

[Prapti Taposhi]

Everybody, the tea stall owners, they used to give us free food, free water because we were matching the rickshaw pullers, they used to take us for free. And the way the doctors, the, the lawyers, the teachers, the artists, they supported us.

[Kevin Hurton]

Independent University Bangladesh English professor Andalib Chowdhury says eventually they looked around and realized they had the bulk of the country on their side.

[Andalieb Choudhary]

We weren't going home. This was going to happen. If it wasn't going to happen, then they were going to have to tell all of us that you are not going to get what you wanted. Which is a free country.

[Kevin Hurton]

This is a country united.

[Andalieb Choudhary]

Finally, the country united where literally CEOs and businessmen and servants and drivers and beggars.

[Kevin Hurton]

How do you think that the myth that she cultivated around her father played into her ultimate downfall?

[Andalieb Choudhary]

This sense, if you are Bengali, you owe this to me, is probably something that people resented. She's not the mother of the nation. She's his daughter and our elected prime minister.

[Kevin Hurton]

Right?

[Andalieb Choudhary]

There is a difference.

[Kevin Hurton]

Sheikha Sina was often criticized for downplaying the contributions of others and framing independence as almost solely the achievement of her father. Here's Zina Tazreen of the Daily Star newspaper.

[Zeena Tazreen]

She distorted history. She would say that my father gave you independence. And it wasn't so far back that people still have memories of that time and the way she was lying and exaggerating.

[Tajil Islam]

She thought that this country was liberated by her father. Tajil Islam, the people and the army and the officers and the institutions all should always bow down to her. She considered the country as her monarchy.

[Kevin Hurton]

Photographer Shahidolam.

[Shahidul Alam]

So much goodwill had been destroyed. She came in because she was the daughter of Mujib, but she lost no time in making her feed them and essentially is by far the most hated person we've ever had in this nation.

[Kevin Hurton]

How did she end up managing to alienate everyone so fast?

[Andalieb Choudhary]

Oh, my God.

[Prapti Taposhi]

Because she had run this dictatorship for 15 years. I could not have the privilege to cast a vote in my lifetime. 15 years of living without having any proper democratic rights, without having freedom of expression.

[Kevin Hurton]

Prapti and her fellow Students took on the most powerful force in Bangladeshi politics and won. Now comes the hard part. A lot of people died for this. People like Abu Sayyid, whose brother asks that his death not be in vain. If what Abu Sad died for, if

[Shahidul Alam]

justice, fairness and a system that values merit, if there is an established in this country, then his soul will never be at peace.

[Kevin Hurton]

The values he died for, the master be established, only then will his death have meaning.

[Shahidul Alam]

Only then will his sacrifice be truly honored.

[Kevin Hurton]

Bangladesh took a big leap into the unknown and it's sort of no one knows how this is going to go, but why do you believe that it's going to find the right way forward?

[Shahidul Alam]

For me, the main strength of of Bangladesh is the people, the ordinary people. They have not sold out. The wealthy have, the oligarchs obviously have. But the real heroes of Bangladesh are our garment workers, our migrant workers, our farmers in the field. And they are very much true to the cause.

[Kevin Hurton]

They really do have the power. When it's exercised, it's rare. But when they do, that's where the power lies.

[Shahidul Alam]

Not only is that where the power lies, that I think and I hope will be a reminder to the regime, whatever regime that comes, that we are still there and we can still call the shots.

[Kevin Hurton]

During the July uprising, It's estimated that 1,400 people were killed and 20,000 were injured. Police say 44 officers were killed. The Awami League says 144 officials were killed. Al Jazeera's investigative unit approached all parties featured in this series. Sheikh Hasina has denied saying the police had done a good job by killing people. In a statement to Al Jazeera, an Awami League spokesperson said Sheikh Hasina and her former ministers were not personally responsible for or or directed the use of lethal force against crowds. They called the International Crimes Tribunal and the prosecution being conducted by prosecutor Tajil Islam hopelessly compromised. They say certain claims uncovered by the United nations investigators are based on testimony of witnesses handpicked by the interim government and are unsupported by proper evidence. A representative for Chaturlig wrote, throughout the entire period, the organization exercised utmost restraint and remained committed to peaceful democratic practices under the strict political direction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Awami League and its affiliated organizations were also under strict instructions to avoid any form of confrontation. Well, that'll do it for this season of Al Jazeera Investigates. If you want to help support this show and this type of investigative storytelling, give us a review. Let us know what you think. Also a five star rating or a thumbs up on YouTube. It really helps a lot. And while you're at it, go back and listen to some of our other past seasons. We have several that are Bangladeshi themed like Ministers, Millions and All the Prime Ministers. Director's Men. This episode was written and produced by me, Kevin Hurton and Tamara Kondokar with Craig Pennington, who is also our audio editor. Additional editing by Manny Panaritos. Clean Cuts did the final sound mix. Black Box composed original music for this series. Will Thorne is the executive producer and Nay Alvarez is Al Jazeera's Head of audio. We will see you next time.