July 17, 2024: The First Call for a Complete Shutdown

That evening, at 8 PM, Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan, a key student coordinator, announced a bold new step: a complete nationwide shutdown. The demands were clear: justice for the killings, an end to police and paramilitary violence, and a return to a peaceful, fair, and inclusive campus.

Students began to reclaim control of their halls of residence from ruling-party loyalists. But by nightfall, university authorities, with the help of police, forced students out. Dormitories stood locked and silent.