Two years after the events of August 5 and the July Revolution of 2024, our nation stands at a moment that demands both honest reflection and determination moving forward.
What we collectively experienced will unquestionably remain one of the most monumental days in our nation’s history as we saw the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government after over a decade and a half.
To say it was an unprecedented event would be minimizing its impact, one that began as student-led demonstrations over unfair job quota systems but eventually escalated into a nationwide uprising against a regime that the people of this country no longer had the patience and tolerance for. A regime that became synonymous not just with deep public frustration with governance, inequality, and institutional fragility, but also with mistreatment of the very people it swore to serve.
However, two years removed, Bangladesh is a new country, and intends to be a better nation. However, we continue to face some of the same issues that have plagued us throughout our history, and indeed continue to hold us back from taking that next step in our evolution.
The general election of February 2026, which brought the BNP to power, marked yet another significant political shift after Dr Yunus’s interim government looked to steady the nation post August 2024. The election, widely seen as arguably the interim government’s most significant achievement, also reflected a public desire for change, stability, and competent administration.
However, political transition alone cannot resolve the entrenched problems that fuelled the unrest of 2024. Citizens expect delivery, not rhetoric and reform, not excuses.
The BNP government led by Tarique Rahman inherits a nation that is impatient for results and, as our very recent history has shown, is unwilling to tolerate the complacency that has long plagued our public life. As such, all those within the government must shy away from complacency, and instead work to serve the best interests of the general public.
At present, our challenges in gas and energy, healthcare, and education are among the more salient and immediate concerns that the government must prioritize. While the ongoing measles outbreak is a crisis that should never have happened, and the interim government must rightly be criticized for its failure, we must continue to do all we can to stop this senseless loss of life.
The gas and energy crisis is another test of the state’s capacity to deliver, and is an indictment of our failure to diversify our energy mix while also relying too heavily on imported power. Our energy system has long needed structural reform: Diversified sources, transparent procurement, better planning, and accelerated investment in renewables. Without a stable energy foundation, any thoughts of economic recovery will remain elusive, and public frustration will deepen.
Education and unemployment too continue to cast long shadows over our future. The July Revolution was driven in part by young people demanding dignity and opportunity. Two years later, those demands remain unmet, with little to no signs of potential improvement. Bangladesh must overhaul its education system and invest in job creation, skills training, and innovation if it hopes to harness the potential of its youth while also honouring the sacrifices made during the July Revolution.
Two years on, despite the changes, we continue navigating the consequences of a political rupture that revealed deep public dissatisfaction. The February 2026 election offered a democratic reset, but the work of rebuilding trust and delivering results is far from complete.
Two years later, the lesson remains clear. We must honour those who gave their lives in the hope of a new and better Bangladesh. For that, if we are to truly build that version of Bangladesh, we must unlearn many of the ways this nation has functioned since its inception.
