In 2024, during the July-August Uprising, also known as the Monsoon Revolution, Bangladesh witnessed a popular movement against authoritarian rule that forever altered the political consciousness of its people. Millions of Bangladeshis, led largely by students and youth, took to the streets demanding reform, accountability and justice. What they faced in return was not negotiation or reform of the discriminatory quota policies, but bullets and tear gas, pellet fire and indiscriminate mass detentions, digital surveillance and intimidation; the full weight of a fascist state simply unwilling to yield to its people. In that critical moment, as people’s frustration and anger at the regime had finally reached a breaking point, another quiet realization took root among a group of young social science researchers, lawyers, and human rights defenders: Bangladesh had no credible independent institutional mechanism left that were allowed to speak out against the state’s unspeakable brutality against its own citizens and hold it accountable to rule of law.

Sapran was born out of a void, when Bangladesh’s major human rights organizations fell silent in the face of authoritarian brutality. In response to years of unchecked repression under Sheikh Hasina’s regime, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and the militarized suppression of dissent during the Monsoon Revolution, Sapran emerged to confront state violence with clarity, courage, and critical inquiry. Through its research and advocacy work, Sapran refuses to let the memory of those injured, maimed, and martyred be erased from the collective consciousness. It is a reminder that the truth of the Long July must never be forgotten by the world. Sapran’s goal is to create a permanent reservoir of researchers, academic scholars, human right defenders and legal experts capable of investigating state violence, preserving survivor testimony, and influencing both domestic and international policy in the human rights discourse. 

Sapran’s recently published work include: a comprehensible Bangla translation of the United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (OHCHR) fact-finding report on the July-August 2024 uprising, a seminal report on pellet guns deployed during the uprising, and an op-ed based on the report as published in the Daily Star in July this year. Sapran’s ongoing work on headshot killings that occurred during the Monsoon Revolution is another part of this effort. Through its investigation and legal advocacy, Sapran seeks to challenge not just the state’s actions, but the ideological frameworks that legitimized repression.

Sapran does not see itself as a mere fact-finding body but as a space of vision for alternative futures. It envisions a Bangladesh 2.0 where human dignity is not dependent on party loyalty and where justice is not delayed until the next election. What makes Sapran unique is our dual approach: we not only document and advocate against human rights violations, but also rigorously research and theorize the structural factors that drive them.