At the time of writing, I am struggling to contact my family in Bangladesh. The government has suspended cellular and internet connectivity within the country’s borders.
Reports suggest more than 120 students have been killed during clashes. I fear the actual number is much higher. Among the martyrs, are students from Dhaka Residential Model College and Islamic University of Technology – institutions where I’ve lived for more than a decade.
The Awami League government led by PM Sheikh Hasina has imposed curfews with the “Shoot-on-Sight” protocol. Numerous videos of state police brutality, including police officers shooting at civilians, have been shared online.
Bangladesh Army units have been deployed to help the civilian administration keep order amid growing concerns that the country is heading to civil war.
This sounds like a post-apocalyptic Orwellian society but this is happening, in 2024. People are denied their right to communicate. A whole population has been disconnected from the outside world.
Elements of a civil war
Economy, religion, political propaganda, family affiliations, tribal identity, class struggle – all these play an intricate role in the governance of more than 170 million people.
The latest protests over job quotas led by students, who dominate Bangladesh demographically, are fueled by growing economic pressure and corruption.
Bangladesh secured a $4.7 billion bailout from the IMF last year after struggling to pay for energy imports. This affected the country’s dollar reserves and caused significant inflation.
The bourgeoisie conspires with the political class in power to preserve their wealth. The proletariat can only tolerate injustice, and economic struggle for so long, until significant changes are inevitable. Historically such changes have been precipitated by the youth of Bangladesh.
The most influential political parties: Bangladesh Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami (currently banned in elections) have been alleged to operate on long-standing political fault lines. These parties also actively maintain official student divisions.
2024 Quota Reform Protests
Bangladesh has historically maintained a quota system for its civil service jobs. Until 2018, these quotas included:
- 30% for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters.
- 10% for women.
- 10% for people in relevant location.
- 5% for members of indigenous and minority communities.
- 1% for people with disabilities.
Only 44% of government jobs were contested on merit!
Students protested to reform the quotas back in 2018. They were repressed heavily, facing a heavy crackdown. Ultimately, the government were forced to suspend the highly controversial job quota allocation.
A high court decision in June 2024 declared the government’s decision to scrap the 30% freedom fighter quota in 2018 as illegal. Students have been protesting again since then.
Protests have largely been peaceful, with some incidents of violence reported nationwide. However, things took a wild turn after PM Hasina, in responding to the quota movement, said the following: “Why do they (protestors) harbour resentment against the brave freedom fighters? If the grandchildren of freedom fighters don’t get jobs, will the grandchildren of “Rajakars” get these jobs?”
“Rajakar” is a highly derogatory term used in Bangladesh. It refers to those who conspired against Bangladesh during the Liberation War in 1971.
Students nationwide were enraged at the PM’s remarks. They immediately brought out midnight processions. The anger spread like wildfire.
My take is that the PM’s remarks were directed towards supporters of Jamaat and BNP – both parties have historically undermined the role of freedom fighters and the founding father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in the war of liberation of 1971.
The unrest among students presented the opportunity for opposition parties to escalate the quota protests into a full-blown political crisis. The goal of opposition parties, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, is not limited to reforming quota allocation, but it has been for some time, to dismantle the economy and force a regime change. The higher the death count on the streets, the better for the opposition parties to further promote their agenda for regime change.
To make matters worse, many young students are also driven by the destructive vision of the opposition parties. The result is atrocious – a subset of students peacefully protesting against court rulings, while others, motivated by political gains, commit to violence and vandalism.
Instead of taking swift action to appease the angry students with a promise for quick reform, the PM restored to name-calling. This is not proper de-escalation, knowing opposition parties are waiting to start riots. The government then proceeded to excessive brute force, using state police and various law-enforcing divisions. It became a war between students who were only protesting court rulings on the streets mixed with mercenaries funded by opposition parties, against the state police and mercenaries funded by the political party in power. A vast majority of mercenaries, unfortunately, happen to be students by profession.
Dhaka city has been ravaged in the past week. The nation is shocked by the insurmountable loss of lives.
On July 21, the Supreme Court directed the government to cut job quotas for families of freedom fighters to 5% from 30%. According to the latest ruling:
- 93% of jobs will be contested on merit.
- 5% of jobs are reserved for descendants of freedom fighters.
- 2% of jobs are reserved for members of Indigenous communities, disabled people and transgender people.
A new beginning on the horizon
Politicians in Bangladesh must understand that our country is built on student movements and that late decisions made by even the most astute politicians can lead to their downfall.
To make a nation more competitive, a good leader would prioritize talent over family ties. People have lost their friends, and mothers have lost their children. This does not happen under good leadership.
Blind political loyalty is a citizen’s disease. Controversial quota rulings, the government’s actions, opposition parties contributing to the violence, and state police brutality – are all symptoms of this disease.
No political party in Bangladesh is worthy to govern its people. It is time to reject corruption-ridden political parties i.e. AL, BNP, Jamaat, and confront the political status quo. It’s time to reject the culture of schism surrounding this trio of failed political parties. It starts with students, as well.
The presence of political parties in all public and private educational institutions must be prohibited.
Government law-enforcing personnel and political leaders involved in the chain of command leading to the usage of lethal weapons on citizens must be identified and brought to justice. I want justice for the students who were killed by the state police.
The source of funding for opposition party violence and the personnel involved must be tracked and strongly dealt with. Interference by foreign states must be investigated and retaliated by the acting administration.
It remains to be seen how much longer the current PM stays in power, but these young students, who will join the workforce soon, will never forget this government’s treatment of the youth. The question is, who can succeed the current PM? The opposition parties are no better.
It is a necessity that will create new leaders.
My deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs. These young people, who protested against injustice, arrogance, and unfairness, did not die in vain. Because of them, and many others, who took part in the protests, an authoritarian regime was forced to overturn a discriminative law.
Students have been the catalyst of change in Bangladesh before, and they will change this country again. Because this youth..is something else.
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