One year after Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule ended in Bangladesh, hopes for real democracy are fading.
What began as a student protest over job quotas grew into a nationwide uprising that forced Hasina to flee and brought in an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
But the unity seen during the protests has now given way to political infighting, and promised reforms and justice remain out of reach.
IMAGE: Musicians perform at the Chandrima Udyan in Dhaka, July 29, 2025. All photographs: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters
IMAGE: Rickshaws pass by the Raju Memorial Sculpture at the Teacher Student Center at Dhaka University, July 30, 2025.
IMAGE: Commuters ride on the country's first metro rail in Dhaka, July 30, 2025.
IMAGE: Visitors rest at the Lalbagh Fort, a Mughal fort complex in Dhaka, July 24, 2025.
IMAGE: Children play on the grass at the Lalbagh Fort, July 24, 2025.
IMAGE: An aerial view of the country's first metro rail crossing the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka, July 29, 2025.
IMAGE: Hindu devotees pray at a roadside temple in Shakhari Bazar, Dhaka, where a large Hindu community lives, July 27, 2025.
IMAGE: The Parliament building complex, designed by architect Louis Kahn, in Dhaka, July 29, 2025.
IMAGE: The Ahsan Manzil palace, once the residence of the nawab of Dhaka, now a museum, located in the old part of Dhaka beside the Buriganga river, July 27, 2025.
IMAGE: A couple take a selfie at the Curzon Hall, a building of the British colonial period, now the home of the faculty of sciences at Dhaka University, July 29, 2025.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
© 2026