After detention of Bangladesh protest leaders, student group threatens to resume agitation

After Bangladeshi police detained three leaders of the movement against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the protesters have threatened to resume their agitation.

Earlier this month, the protests that erupted against Bangladesh’s erstwhile contentious quota system turned into a mass-movement against Hasina’s rule. More than 200 people were killed and several hundreds were injured in clashes between the protesters and security service.

To crush the protests, Hasina deployed military on the streets, declared a nationwide curfew, and banned the internet for days. It was only after the Supreme Court of Bangladesh scrapped the quota system that the protesters called off their movement.

Regarding the violence during the protests, Hasina’s government has been slammed widely in Bangladesh and abroad. The government forces have been accused of using excessive and disproportionate force and it has also been alleged they used vehicles with United Nations (UN) markings to target protesters.

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Protesters seek release of leaders

The latest threat to resume protests is rooted in the detention of three student leaders from hospital.

Three leaders of the Members of Students Against Discrimination (MSAD), the group that triggered the protests, were detained on Friday, according to the group’s leaders.

The group has alleged that MSAD chief Nahid Islam along with two others, Asif Mahmud and Abu Baker Majumder, were forcibly discharged from the hospital where they were undergoing treatment for their injuries. Then they said they were detained and taken away by plainclothes police personnel.

Abdul Hannan Masud, one of the coordinators for the protests, said Islam and others “should be freed and the cases against them must be withdrawn”, according to AFP.

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Masud demanded “visible actions” be taken against government ministers and police officers responsible for the deaths of protesters, as per the agency.

If no action is taken, then the group “will be forced to launch tough protests” from Monday, said Masud.

More than 200 killed, 9,000 arrested in Bangladesh

In days of violence, at least 205 people, including several police personnel, were killed, according to AFP’s tally based on police and hospital data.

However, the protesters have said 266 have been killed and Hasina’s government has said that 147 were killed, as per the agency.

The Prothom Alo newspaper reported that more than 9,000 people were arrested for indulging in violence.

The nationwide curfew remains in place and the military continues to patrol the streets even as internet has been restored. The websites and social media accounts of media outlets have also started getting updated now that the internet has been restored. For days, newspapers like Dhaka Tribune and The Daily Star were not updating their websites and social media accounts. The internet was restored after 11 days on Tuesday.

Even though the immediate trigger of protests was the quota system that critics said favoured Hasina’s Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) party, the protests had turned into a broader movement against Hasina, who has ruled for 15 years with an iron fist. Her critics have said that she has cracked down on opposition and has stifled liberties in the Bangladesh. In the elections this year, she won effectively unopposed as the main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), boycotted the elections.