Bangladesh Opens July Uprising Museum at Sheikh Hasina's Former Residence

Bangladesh on Wednesday opened the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum at Ganabhaban, the former official residence of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to honour those killed during the student-led protests that brought down her government in 2024.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated the museum by unveiling a plaque at the Dhaka complex on the second anniversary of Hasina's departure to India on August 5, 2024. The museum will welcome visitors from August 6.

The museum has been created to preserve the history of the July and August 2024 protests through photographs, official papers, personal belongings, video clips and other items linked to the movement. Rahman toured the galleries after the opening ceremony, while a documentary on the protests and the people who took part in them was screened, according to state news agency BSS.

A UN human rights office report released in February 2025 said up to 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15, 2024, after security forces launched a crackdown on protesters.

The protests began over a disputed government job quota system before growing into a nationwide movement against Hasina's rule. She fled to India on August 5, 2024, and Muhammad Yunus became chief adviser of the interim government three days later.

The Yunus-led administration had started the process of converting Ganabhaban into a memorial museum. The project was delayed several times before its inauguration under the current government. The museum is now part of the Bangladesh National Museum system.

The government also observed August 5 as "Fall of Autocracy Day" with programmes to honour families of those killed and injured during the 2024 uprising.