How students gave us our voice back

Even before 5 August, journalists walking inside their respective newsrooms had been hit by a surreal feeling. Now, as we plan our day, we no longer have to wonder whether we can write about this topic or that, whether we can directly point fingers at the perpetrators of a crime, whether we have to compulsorily print a photo of the prime minister on our front page, whether we have to constantly pay tribute to false icons and temples of her rule.

When we now freely write about what she has done to us over the last 15 years, there is still a lingering hesitation, like she will somehow return to haunt us the way she had done all these years. During that time, we journalists had been cowered into submission by the Hasina-led government, who used every tool in the dictator's playbook to ensure that not one dissenting — or even mildly critical — voice against her rule survived.

For small infractions, her government could destroy your livelihood by blocking your path to earning revenue or shutting your media organisation down completely. At the higher end, you could be arrested under the draconian Digital Security Act, you could be threatened or picked up by the DGFI, tortured in custody, or outright killed.

Photo: Rajib Dhar

We had all but lost our voice. But then we started hearing the voices of our children — our students — from the streets. The Hasina government threatened them with the same tools she used to gag our voices, but somehow, we noticed, they refused to shut up. 

With each passing day, their voices grew louder and louder, and we could also feel our voices slowly but surely returning.

From 16 July to 5 August, we woke up every morning fearful about the fate of these young guns, that Hasina would unleash the worst atrocities to quash the popular rebellion. Unsurprisingly, Hasina escalated the violence unleashed on them, but surprisingly, she failed to quash them. 

With each passing hour, we thought they would not be able to take it any longer, but they proved us wrong over and over again. The crueller she acted, the braver the students became.

Photo: Rajib Dhar

Today marks one month since the lion-hearted spirit of our young souls returned an entire nation to the path of freedom. In doing so, they also liberated the media that had been systematically destroyed by the Hasina government over 15 years.

We once again look forward to coming into the newsroom, telling the stories of our people and speaking the unadulterated and unfiltered truth. And for that, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our young students, who have inspired not just the media, but an entire nation to find their voice back.