-Collage Photo

By SM Ashikuzzaman

DHAKA, Aug 04, 2026 (BSS) - The July-August mass uprising of 2024 stands as a watershed moment in the history of Bangladesh, marking a transition from a student-led reform movement into a full-scale national defiance against tyranny.

While the bravery of the youth on the frontlines remains the focal point, a parallel and equally vital front was opened by the legal fraternity. 

Transitioning from officers of the court to the vanguard of a national conscience, a significant cohort of Supreme Court (SC) lawyers acted as guardians of conscience by providing the movement with both its legal legitimacy and a physical shield against state brutality. 

Among those whose leadership during the movement remains unforgettable were senior advocates Zainul Abedin, A J Mohammad Ali (late), AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Advocate Fazlur Rahman, Barrister Kayser Kamal, Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal, Advocate Kamrul Islam Sajal and Advocate Mohammad Ali, among others. 

They were joined by a large group of young Supreme Court lawyers, whose active participation and steadfast commitment added momentum to the movement.

As the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in July 2024 gradually evolved into a mass uprising, two Supreme Court lawyers-Manzur-Al-Matin and Aynun Nahar Siddiqua (now a High Court judge)-filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking directives to stop security forces from opening fire on protesters and to ensure the immediate release of those detained during the movement. 

One of the lawyers who argued in support of the writ petition was Barrister Aneek R Haque, who is now serving as an Additional Attorney General.

"At that time, we did not personally know any of the students or protesters. We stood by them purely out of conscience and a humanitarian sense of duty, and took up the legal battle on their behalf before the court. During the hearing, we faced unprofessional obstruction from the state's lawyers. If such inhumane incidents occur again in the future, we will continue to fulfil our moral and professional responsibility as lawyers," Barrister Haque said.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing on the writ petition seeking a High Court directive to stop security forces from opening fire on student protesters, lawyer Manzur Al Matin said, "We came to the court out of our moral responsibility as lawyers. We prepared the writ petition in just half an hour. We came to the court to protect our children from bullets."

While lawyers fought legal battles in court on behalf of the student protesters, they also took to the streets in solidarity with the movement. On July 31, 2024, lawyers staged protest marches on the premises of the Supreme Court, Dhaka courts and courts across the country in support of the students' "March for Justice" programme. 

Their public show of solidarity with the protesters on that turbulent day drew nationwide attention and underscored the legal community's support for the movement.

On the historic day of the "March for Justice" programme, police blocked student protesters, prompting them to gather outside the Supreme Court's Mazar Gate. In response, lawyers of the Supreme Court unit of the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibee Forum marched from the court premises to the gate in a show of solidarity.

As the gate remained locked, the students outside and the lawyers inside chanted slogans in support of the movement. Later, after reports emerged that several students had been detained, some lawyers climbed over the barricade on the western side of the Mazar Gate to join the protesters. 

They stood alongside the students and helped bring some of them inside the Supreme Court premises for safety.

Among those present at the Mazar Gate that day were then President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Barrister A M Mahbub Uddin Khokon; former Secretary of the association and current Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal; organising secretary of the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibee Forum Advocate Gazi Kamrul Islam Sajal; current secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association Advocate Mohammad Ali; current member secretary of the Supreme Court Unit of the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibee Forum, Advocate Gazi Touhidul Islam; former Acting Secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association Barrister Mahfuzur Rahman Milon; and Supreme Court lawyers Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman Khan, Manzur-Al-Matin and Md Tanvir Ahmed. They were joined by several hundred other lawyers who took part in the programme in solidarity with the student protesters.

On the historic day of the "March for Justice" programme on July 31, 2024, then Supreme Court lawyer and now Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal expressed solidarity with the student protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court's Mazar Gate, where chants of "We want justice" echoed through the area. 

Addressing the students, he said, "You have no reason to think that you are alone or that no one stands with you. We are with you."

Later the same day, Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, along with a large number of fellow lawyers, strongly protested after police detained several student protesters and put them into police vehicles outside the Supreme Court's Mazar Gate. 

At one point, Barrister Khokon stretched out both his hands towards the police officers and declared, "Arrest me instead. But release them. They have committed no offence." Faced with the lawyers' firm resistance, who stood in front of the police vehicles and demanded the students' release, police eventually let the detained protesters go.

Throughout the July-August 2024 Mass Uprising, lawyers across Bangladesh remained at the forefront of the movement, both inside courtrooms and on the streets. 

Alongside organising demonstrations, protest rallies and human chains at the Supreme Court and bar associations across the country, they provided pro bono legal assistance to protesters and fought legal battles to secure the release of detained students, reinforcing the legal community's role in defending the movement and the rule of law.