Dhaka, July 19 -- It was just past midnight on July 19 last year when the entire country fell under a sudden, sweeping curfew. In the span of hours, Bangladesh transformed from a nation engulfed in protests to a landscape subdued by military boots, shuttered roads, and silence interrupted only by the whir of helicopters.

The government's decision to deploy the army followed a hastily convened meeting at Ganabhaban, chaired by the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as violence surged across cities and campuses.

The memory of that day remains etched into the consciousness of a wounded nation. At least 67 lives were lost in the span of 24 hours-according to media reports-in a wave of brutal crackdowns that engulfed the capital and many par...