The Chankharpul massacre occurred on August 5, 2024, during a mass protest in the Chankharpul area of

Dhaka, Bangladesh Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. This protest was part of the broader Long March to Dhaka, which emerged as a part of the larger

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

. The demonstrators were primarily students and activists, and they intended to march from the

Shahbagh Shahbagh (also Shahbaugh or Shahbag, , ) is a major neighbourhood and a police precinct or ''thana'' in Dhaka, the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is also a major public transport hub. It is a junction between two contrasting section ...

area to Ganabhaban, the official residence of the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

, demanding her resignation. The protest was organized by the

Anti-discrimination Students Movement Students Against Discrimination () is a platform of student activists in Bangladesh formed in 2024 during the nationwide student-led quota reform movement. The group was involved in the ousting of the country's former prime minister Sheikh H ...

and was a reaction to issues related to systemic inequalities and the government's handling of political dissent. The protesters called for substantial political reforms, including changes in government policy and a review of administrative practices they viewed as discriminatory. On the morning of August 5, 2024, units from the

Dhaka Metropolitan Police The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (; abbreviated as DMP) is the unit of Bangladesh Police responsible for law enforcement in the metropolis of Dhaka, the national capital and most populous city in Bangladesh. The DMP is the largest police force uni ...

and the

Armed Police Battalion The Armed Police Battalion is a specialised combat unit of the Bangladesh Police. It is headquartered in Dhaka. The unit has 11 battalions under its command and the Special Security and Protection Battalion has two battalions. Airport Armed Pol ...

(APBN) were deployed to the Chankharpul area to prevent protesters from advancing through Shahbagh towards the Ganabhaban. Initially, law enforcement used

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

, sound grenades, and

rubber bullet Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...

s to disperse the crowd. However, some officers, including Constable Md. Sujon Hossain of the Armed Police Battalion, fired live ammunition indiscriminately at the protesters, leading to the deaths of seven individuals and injuries to several others. Among the seven fatalities was Shahriar Khan Anas, a tenth-grade student at Adarsha Academy in Gendaria,

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...

. Before participating in the protest, Anas left a poignant

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

to his parents, expressing his commitment to the cause. He was fatally shot three times by the police in the Chankharpul area. His body was later recovered from Dhaka Mitford Hospital and laid to rest at Jurain Cemetery. Following his death, the "Deen Nath Sen Road" in Gendaria was renamed "Shahid Anas Road" () in his honour. On September 12, 2024, over a month after the incident, Constable Sujon Hossain was arrested for his involvement in the massacre. The Chankharpul massacre was part of a series of violent incidents during the July Revolution. By early August 2024, the unrest had resulted in a significant death toll, with reports of at least 1000. On January 12, 2025, the International Crimes Tribunal sent Constable Sujon Hossain to jail after showing him arrested in a case over the killings of seven people during the confrontation in the Chankharpul area.

References

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