In this report, participants protesting under the banner ‘Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’ that took place in July–August 2024 are referred to as ‘student protesters’, ‘protesters’ or simply ‘students’. It is essential to note that members and supporters of the Chhatra League, which engaged in attacks against these protests and launched counter-demonstrations, were also students. However, the term ‘students’ in this report refers exclusively to students who participated in the anti-quota protests and related demonstrations. Moreover, as the protests generalised, the more general term ‘protesters’ is being used in some parts of the report.
The ‘Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’ is known by various names in different sources. For the purpose of this report, the movement is referred to as the ‘student movement’ or the ‘student protest movement’.
In 2018, Bangladesh updated the English spelling of several locations to reflect their Bengali pronunciations, including Chattogram (formerly Chittagong), Cumilla (Comilla), Barishal (Barisal), Jashore (Jessore) and Bogura (Bogra).4 Although some sources may still use the old spellings, this report uses the new names. The Chittagong Hill Tracts retains its original name, as the new spelling ‘Chattogram’ is not commonly used to refer to this region.