On 3 August 2024, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement announced a one-point demand for the resignation of then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her government.
The declaration was made at a rally at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, where Nahid Islam was identified as one of the movement's coordinators.
Nahid Islam said the demand sought the fall of Hasina's government and the end of fascism.
Movement leaders also demanded justice for killings and abductions they said had occurred during the protests.
Earlier that day, Hasina said she wanted to meet protesting students at Ganabhaban, hear their views and avoid conflict.
The movement's leaders rejected that invitation.
Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan announced a 15-point set of instructions for a nationwide non-cooperation programme starting on 4 August.
The instructions called for withholding taxes and utility payments, closing public and private institutions, educational establishments, factories and transport, and avoiding formal banking channels for remittances.
Demonstrations and road blockades took place in several parts of Dhaka and in districts outside the capital.
Both accounts described clashes and violence in multiple areas, while an attack and arson were reported at the home of then education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhoury in Chattogram.
Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman told officers that the army stood with the public and would do so in the national interest and when required by the state.
Then-home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the quota protest had become political and that law-enforcement personnel had a right to self-defence.
He also denied that police gunfire had killed anyone, a claim not resolved by the evidence set.
Hasina said she would ensure justice for every killing connected to the quota protests.