Mashfiq Mizan

It was 6:14pm on Friday, July 19, 2024. Two Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel were advancing into Banasree G Block in Dhaka.

As dialogue resumes tomorrow, the path to consensus appears far from smooth

The National Citizen Party is set to unveil its charter this week, prioritising democracy within the organisation and presenting a vision for a “New Bangladesh” built on youth-driven decentralised governance.

Last year, 17-year-old Nur Mostofa, like many of his peers, took to the streets, standing shoulder to shoulder with the masses to protest the killings of hundreds at the hands of law enforcers during the July uprising and to demand the resignation of then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Ashiqur Rahman Hridoy, 16, was hit with 35 shotgun pellets -- three of them lodged in his head -- during a protest against the state crackdown on quota reform demonstrators in Dhaka’s Jatrabari on July 18.

Emotions ran high. Exhaustion was evident on their faces.

The Daily Star found evidence of systematic government efforts to cover up medical records and bodies of the July uprising victims so they can never be found again.

When we first started visiting Dhaka Medical College Hospital in January for this story, there were seven protest-related unclaimed bodies freezing in its mortuaries.