 "How Bangladesh protests pose a big challenge for PM Sheikh Hasina")
Bangladesh is in an uproar.
At least 39 people have died in protests across Bangladesh after tens of thousands of people took to the streets.
The protests began after a high court reinstated the country’s quota system.
They come less than six months after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won a fourth straight term.
But what do we know about the protests? How do they pose a challenge for Hasina?
What do we know about the protests?
These protests have to do with the Bangladesh’s quota system for government jobs.
As per The Diplomat, a high court on 5 July reinstated the quota system the Hasina government scrapped in 2018.
The government had scrapped the system in the aftermath of student protests.
Hasina was seemingly sympathetic towards the students at the time.
“There is nothing to get angry at; the students are demanding [an end to quotas], and I totally accept it,” she said in 2018.
The quota reserves 30 per cent of government jobs for the kin of freedom fighters in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe rules were introduced by in 1972 by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh who led its freedom movement.
Hasina is his daughter.
Bangladesh’s quota system has gone through several metamorphoses.
By the time it was abolished in 2018, 56 per cent of government jobs were blocked under various quotas.
The bulk covered groups such as freedom fighters’ families, with women and those from underdeveloped districts receiving a share of a tenth each, with five per cent allotted to indigenous communities, and one per cent for the disabled.
The protesting students want all categories abolished, except the last two.
As per News18, students say the Hasina government uses the quota system to fill government posts with those loyal to the ruling Awami League.
The Bangladesh government has challenged the order in the Supreme Court – which will hear the plea on August 7.
But the students, who insist that isn’t enough, took to the streets.
Hasina responded by saying that there is ‘no justification’ for the anti-quota protests.
She then added fuel to the flames.
“Why do they [the protesters] have so much resentment towards the freedom fighters? If the grandchildren of the freedom fighters don’t get quota benefits, should the grandchildren of Razakars get the benefit?” Hasina said at a press conference following her visit to China, as per The Diplomat.
“Razakar” is an offensive term for those accused of collaborating with Pakistan’s army in 1971 to betray Bangladesh.
As per The Diplomat, thousands of students from Dhaka university then took to the streets.
They chanted: “Who am I? Who are You? Razakar, Razakar. Who said that? Who said that? Autocrat. Autocrat.”
The protests turned violent this week following clashes between thousands of anti-quota demonstrators and members of the student wing of Hasina’s Awami League party.
As per News18, the demonstrations are being spearheaded by a coalition of college unions named Students Against Discrimination.
Authorities cut some mobile internet services to try to quell the unrest.
News18 quoted Bangladeshi news channel Ekattor TV as saying that the roadblocks and internet shutdowns have left the common man struggling.
BD24, a Bangladeshi news outlet said Dhaka is witnessing a ‘public transport crisis’ after demonstrators called for a ‘complete shutdown.’
Police fired rubber bullets and hurled sound grenades and tear gas to scatter protesters who also blocked railway tracks and major roads.
Thursday alone saw 13 people killed – the worst day of violence so far in protests in Bangladesh – as thousands of students armed with sticks and rocks clashed with armed police in Dhaka.
These included a bus driver who was brought to a hospital with a bullet wound to his chest, a rickshaw-puller and three students, officials told Reuters.
The capital’s main university campus had been the site of the worst of the nationwide protests, but on Thursday there were stronger demonstrations in other pockets of the city.
Hundreds of people were injured as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up groups of protesters, who torched vehicles, police posts and other establishments, witnesses said.
Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government was willing to hold talks with the protesters.
The demonstrators refused, saying, “Discussions and opening fire do not go hand in hand”.
“We cannot trample over dead bodies to hold discussions. Discussions could have taken place earlier,” protest co-ordinator Nahid Islam told Reuters.
All public and private universities were shut indefinitely from Wednesday and security forces were deployed at campuses to keep order.
“At the Brac University medical centre at least 25 students were treated for rubber bullet wounds and tear gas-related injuries. Rubber bullets hit several students in their eyes,” a university official told AFP.
How do they pose a challenge for Hasina?
The protests are the first challenge to Hasina’s government since she won a fourth consecutive term in January in elections boycotted by the main opposition.
Hasina has pledged justice for those killed in the demonstrations.
But Students Against Discrimination said her words were insincere and urged supporters to press on.
“It did not reflect the murders and mayhem carried out by her party activists,” Asif Mahmud, one of the coordinators of the protests, told AFP.
A piece in The Diplomat said that the stark differences between the two protests are a sign of ‘the winds of change’ in Bangladesh.
The piece noted how students are labelling Hasina a dictator and how social media is rife with anti-Awami League posts from people of all strata of life.
“Through writing, caricatures, videos, photos, and more, Bangladeshis, especially students, are directly calling the prime minister an autocrat’,” the piece noted.
Protesters and critics say the 30 per cent quota for families of freedom fighters favours Awami League supporters, which led the independence fight.
Experts also attribute the unrest to stagnant job growth in the private sector, making public sector jobs, with their accompanying regular wage hikes and privileges, very attractive.
The quotas shrink the number of government jobs open for all, hurting aspirants who want them filled on the basis of merit.
They have sparked anger among students grappling with high youth unemployment, as nearly 32 million young people are out of work or education from a population of 170 million.
The economy, once among the world’s fastest growing, has stagnated, inflation hovers around 10 per cent and dollar reserves are shrinking.
A piece in The Wire argued the protests have now gone beyond the mere call for quota reforms.
“They now say they are seeking a complete overhaul of the system, the restoration of their voting rights lost through three consecutive disputed elections, and recognition as equal citizens in a democracy, not mere subjects under “authoritarian” rule,” the piece stated.
It added that students want to “reclaim the dignity that they believe the people of Bangladesh collectively have lost during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure.”
With inputs from agencies
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