An unarmed student, with his arms outstretched, stood his ground as the police closed in on the protesters calling for reforms in the quota allocation for government jobs in Bangladesh. Despite posing no threat, he was shot dead – a moment captured on video. As the fearless action of 22-year-old Abu Sayed went viral across social media, his defiant act immediately drew comparisons to Tiananmen Square’s iconic ‘Tank Man.’
The incident galvanized a peaceful student protest, originally focused on demanding public jobs be allocated based on merit rather than quotas—particularly the 30% reserved for descendants of war veterans—escalated dramatically into a nationwide uprising against the government and echoed the frustration of an entire generation.
Another viral image captured the moment a sister pushed back a police van carrying her arrested brother, with many likening her to Superman, symbolizing the formidable power of young women in the protests. In a similar vein, photos surfaced of female teachers shielding male students from arrest. These powerful images recast the traditionally marginalized role of women—not as the weaker sex, but as superheroes—challenging and reshaping the narrative of how women respond to injustice.
Such narratives are not uncanny as the imagery of protests often serves as a powerful form of artistic expression, transforming political dissent into visual narratives that amplify the movement’s message and resonate with broader audiences.
Rap music with its close association with resistance has been used during the protests in Bangladesh to hold the state accountable– songs like Awaz utha (Make Some Noise), Kotha ko (Answer Me), Chobbisher Guerrilla (24’s Guerrilla), and Ek dofa (1 claim) use rebellious, even violent language to claim justice after the killing of student protesters by state agencies and political aggressors. In the district town of Chittagong, crowds gathered and sang the national anthem together which is now known as the Bir Chattala (brave Chittagong) event– the video of the crowd is still circulating on social media as a vehicle of communicating students’ patriotism in the face of violence, engaging the public in Bangladesh and internationally.
Protest art has been used in the form of chalking and graffiti in the streets of the capital city of Dhaka with slogans, mantras, and paintings. A collaboratively produced and effective message that engages the public, attracts media attention raises awareness of social injustice, and exposes oppressive power. Creative tactics were also deployed to merge the space and time difference, in order to integrate the diasporic Bangladeshi community in the protests.
On July 30, after the initial deaths of student protestors, most Bangladeshis on my Facebook changed their profile picture to red, representing the blood that was shed for a rightful demand of the students. This change of profile photos continued until August 5, the day the former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina of the then incumbent (now ousted) Awami League party, resigned and fled the country. Bangladeshis then put an image of the raised flag with the phrase free on their Facebook again. Such integration of the diasporic community in the protests redistributed the responsibilities of the country’s pursuits, broadening participation and generating international spaces of collective resistance. This resulted in peaceful demonstrations in many parts of the world including statements of support from international organisations and governments.
On the streets, across social and mainstream media students and their supporters (e.g. teachers, families, small businesses who supplied water and food, and rickshaw pullers who marched in their rickshaws) protested against job quotas and then the end of state oppression through a range of direct and symbolic tactics. From street theatre to art installation, from new rap songs to the return of older Bengali songs of resistance, and from social media trends to animated images of protesters’ superpowers various forms of creative repertoires emphasized that the general population of Bangladesh urgently needed change.
The protests and its international support finally resulted in the resignation and fleeing of the prime minister and the formation of an interim government which included representation from the student protestors. In their quest to rebuild Bangladesh, students started cleaning up cities, controlling traffic, protecting minority communities and their places of worship, and protecting neighborhoods against looting and vandalism. Popularly known as Gen Z, who are often considered politically disengaged, Bangladeshi Gen-Zers have shown the world the power of digital natives – seamlessly blended the online and offline world to take a government down in just about 15 days!
The 2024 protests in Bangladesh are an important cultural memory for the nation. The use of performative and creative repertoires, both online and in the streets, in mobilizing resistance and transforming society shows that creative resistance is as important as direct action, reinstating the role of art, music, and symbolic action in the collective uprising. The changing nature of protest choreographies and creative tactics using social media speaks to the changing nature of social movements initiated by Gen Z, where groups with a common desire to generate an alternative model of socio-political life, confront state policies that they find mutually repressive or punitive.
Student protests are not new, from the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico to the Tiananmen Square massacre in China to violence on Bangladeshi students in 1952 and now in 2024– students have been demanding social change for decades and often has been their plurality in expression. The 2024 student protests in Bangladesh can also be viewed as a series of creative performances that had the power to reshape the nation’s social and political landscape. The reimagined vision for the future was conveyed through accessible cultural channels such as music, art, and social media campaigns. By leveraging these forms of expression, the movement has also created lasting cultural memories and discourses, transforming performative acts into impactful actions.
