On December 18, Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader of the 2024 student-led uprising, was assassinated. What began as protests against civil service quotas became a leaderless uprising. As Western powers celebrated a “democratic dawn”, Bangladesh slid into structured anarchy. Dhaka now faces two futures with terrifying clarity: one with elections skewed by military advantage and Islamist mobilisation, and the other by acknowledging that democracy cannot be airlifted.