Rap, memes, graffiti: Bangladesh’s new political tools, a year after Hasina | Protests

Dhaka, Bangladesh — On July 16, 2024, as security forces launched a brutal crackdown on student protesters campaigning against then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian government, Bangladeshi rapper Muhammad Shezan released a song.

Titled Kotha Ko (speak up in Bangla), the song asked: “The country says it’s free, then where’s your roar?”

It was the day that Abu Sayed, a protester, was killed, becoming the face of the campaign to depose Hasina after 15 years…