The July Revolution, otherwise known as the Gen Z Revolution, that took place in Bangladesh in 2024, began as a protest movement led by Bangladeshi Generation Z students and ultimately escalated into a nationwide uprising that brought down Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years. The immediate trigger was that on June 5, 2024, Bangladesh's Supreme Court ruled to reinstate the public service quota system that had been abolished in 2018. Under this system, 30% of government positions were to be reserved for the descendants of veterans of the 1971 War of Independence, which is widely regarded as a privileged class in Bangladeshi society.
Large numbers of students viewed the policy as deeply unfair to merit-based employment. They launched class boycotts and peaceful demonstrations at major universities, including the University of Dhaka, demanding reform of the quota allocations. From July 16 to 17, armed student groups closely aligned with Chhatra League the ruling party, along with the police, forcibly cracked down on the protesters. Several students were killed, including student leader Abu Sayed. These deaths sparked nationwide outrage, turning what had begun as a "minor issue" into a full-blown national crisis.
To prevent the situation from spiraling further, the Bangladeshi government subsequently ordered the closure of schools nationwide, imposed curfews, and cut off internet services. However, these familiar emergency control measures proved ineffective. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Bangladesh's Supreme Court ruled on July 21 to reduce the quota allocation from 56% to just 7%. By then, however, the earlier bloodshed had fundamentally changed the nature of public demands. The issue was no longer limited to quota reform; it had evolved into calls for government accountability and resignation. As a result, unrest escalated across the country. Clashes on August 4 alone left nearly 100 people dead, making it the deadliest single day of the entire crisis.
On August 5, tens of thousands of people broke through security cordons and launched the "Long March on Dhaka". Protesters stormed the Prime Minister's residence, and, faced with a situation she could no longer control, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and fled to India by helicopter to seek refuge. Bangladesh Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman delivered a nationwide address, announcing that the military would "remain neutral" while assisting in the formation of an interim government, and urging protesters to maintain order.
At this point, Bangladesh entered a period of power vacuum, raising the question of who should steer the country's future. Once again, the solution came from the Gen Z student movement. They invited in a major figure from abroad, the Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Throughout this process, a decisive role was played by the student leaders of the Students Against Discrimination Movement. These leaders made it clear that they would not accept a government led by the Bangladeshi military and explicitly called on Muhammad Yunus to step forward. Among the key Gen Z figures was Nahid Islam, a 26-year-old sociology student. In the early hours of August 6, 2024, he formally announced via video that Bangladesh's student movement was proposing Yunus as chief adviser of an interim government. Nahid later revealed that as early as August 4, a day before Hasina's downfall, student leaders had already reached out privately to Yunus, who was then in Paris, to ask whether he would be willing to assume leadership at a moment of national crisis. It is reported that after Hasina fled the country, Army Chief General Zaman played the role of coordinator. He convened multi-party meetings and expressed support for the Yunus proposal once it was put forward by the student leaders.
On August 8, at the urging of student leaders, Yunus was sworn in as chief adviser of the interim government, assuming leadership of the country's political and legal reforms. Few had expected that he would end up doing such a remarkably good job in Bangladesh.
According to a survey released by the International Republican Institute (IRI) in December 2025, around 70% of Bangladeshis expressed satisfaction with the performance of the interim government led by Yunus. Drawing on his background in economics, Yunus also delivered tangible results in stabilizing the national economy, successfully averting a potential economic collapse. By December 2025, inflation had fallen from double-digit levels at the time of Hasina's ouster to 8.49%, while foreign exchange reserves rebounded to USD 32.5 billion, enough to cover three months of imports. Yunus also launched what has been described as the toughest reform in Bangladesh's history of its corruption-ridden banking sector, recovering hundreds of billions of taka in non-performing loans and restructuring several banks on the brink of bankruptcy. In January 2026, under Yunus's leadership, Bangladesh made significant progress in negotiations with the United States on reducing textile tariffs, a move widely seen as an important step toward strengthening trade and economic ties with the Trump administration.
Gen Z first stepped onto the world stage through social movements in Bangladesh. How the world now views Gen Z, and the role they play in today's global landscape, has become a major question of our time.
I once believed that Gen Z is, in essence, a "Paper Generation, a generation whose experiences and knowledge, including their understanding of the past, are largely derived from books, written records, and imagination, one that we perhaps can tentatively call the "Dream-Knowledge Generation". The word "paper" here carries a dual meaning: on the one hand, it suggests something indirect and superficial; on the other, it also conveys fearlessness, purity, and a willingness to act boldly. Yet as time moves on, there is little doubt that the future world will belong to Gen Z. They are the decisive generation of our era, a generation with historic significance. At moments when the world stands at a turning point, Gen Z will inevitably render the preceding generations insignificant.
Major events in today's world are now closely intertwined with Gen Z, but what defining characteristics do they actually possess? Only by understanding them can we truly grasp the present and the future of our world.
Gen Z is generally defined as those born between 1997 and 2012. Sociological research suggests that they are no longer merely trendsetters, but active rewriters of cultural rules. In cultural and social terms, their defining traits can be distilled into the following key characteristics:
1. A Culture of "Authenticity Over Perfection": Gen Z is highly critical and anti-trend in spirit. Young people of this generation strongly reject anything overly filtered or excessively polished.
2. Anti-Social Socializing: By 2026, they prefer platforms like the French social media app BeReal, which emphasizes immediacy, unedited content, and even removes likes and follower counts. They enjoy posting "ugly" or unretouched photos, celebrating raw, authentic moments over curated perfection.
3. Highly Populist with a Strong Iconoclast Tendency: Compared to untouchable celebrities, Gen Z is more drawn to content creators who openly show vulnerability, sharing their failures or mental health struggles.
4. A Generation of "Woke Culture" and Social Justice: Gen Z is widely regarded as the most socially conscious generation, integrating their values into everyday life. Take, for example, the countless female students involved in the Bangladesh protests, whose messages often read: "If I don't come back today, please tell my mother I died like a hero".
5. A Strong Sense of Boundaries: Gen Z rejects "hustle culture" and has popularized the idea of "quiet quitting". They emphasize that work is only one part of life, not its entirety.
6. Skeptical of Authority: They do not follow authority blindly. In organizations and social structures, they prefer flat, decentralized communication and value individual contributions over hierarchy or seniority. They are a generation that questions authority by default. Unsurprisingly, the authority often disappoints them.
7. The Loneliest Generation: Gen Z is often called the "loneliest generation". Fatigued by large, algorithm-driven public platforms, they turn instead to Discord channels or private digital interest groups. They crave "vertical socializing" built around deep, shared passions.
8. Retro Revival: By 2026, Gen Z's fascination with physical objects like film cameras, vinyl records, and the like has reached new heights. This is their way of seeking tangible experiences and a sense of historical connection in an otherwise purely digital world. Gen Z is, in many ways, a generation that looks back.
Overall, culturally, Gen Z represents a blend of pragmatism and idealism. On one hand, they harness cutting-edge AI and digital technologies to reshape society. On the other hand, they actively work to repair a real world that has been overdeveloped and alienated. Starting with the student protests in Bangladesh, the door to Gen Z's influence has already been opened.
No one knows exactly where Gen Z will take the world, but it is clear that the world belongs to them. They are a decisive generation, a historic generation, and they have already ushered in an entirely new ideological era.