Dhaka, Aug. 1 -- "A room measuring approximately 20 feet in length and 15 feet in width, packed with 35 to 40 students sleeping on the floor. While sleeping, bodies would be pressed against one another due to the extreme overcrowding. The room's condition would often turn unsanitary, and bedbug infestations became rampant. Whenever summoned by leaders of the ruling student organization, attendance to the political programs was mandatory. Refusal to comply resulted in verbal abuse and psychological harassment."

That was the dystopian reality, as described by students themselves, inside the dormitories of the country's highest seat of learning, the University of Dhaka-just one year ago, under the authoritarian, and by popular perception, F...