Bangladesh protesters demand end to state repression

Lydia Silva

The protests began when Bangladesh’s Supreme Court reinstated a quota reserving 30 percent of government jobs for descendants of freedom fighters who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence, reversing a popular reform of the quota system won in 2018.

The quota system was introduced in 1972 by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the main leader of the independence movement, in a war-torn country to recognize those who had fought in the independence struggle. However, it sparked discontent from the beginning and movements against the quota system have since erupted, such as mass protests in 2008 and 2013, which were unsuccessful.

In 2018, the quota remained at 56%: 30% for descendants of freedom fighters, 10% for women, 5% for ethnic minorities, 10% for specific districts and 1% for people with disabilities, leaving 44% for merit candidates. This means that working-class students with good results may be deprived of jobs and opportunities by those privileged by the quota.

That year, students led a massive movement against quotas and gained considerable public support. They succeeded in forcing the government to reduce quotas for public employment. But problems remained regarding the fair implementation of the quota system.

Last June, the Supreme Court overturned the 2018 reforms that revived the anti-quota student movement. Initially, the movement was limited to public universities. Sheikh Hasina’s government responded with violence and refused to engage in dialogue with student leaders, which could have spared the country the atrocities we have seen in recent weeks. The government preferred to wait in silence for the court’s verdict and ignore the campus movement.

Moreover, Hasina further angered the student protesters by asking on national television: “If the grandchildren of freedom fighters are not getting quota benefits, should the grandchildren of Razakars get them?” “Razakar” is a derogatory term that refers to those who helped the Pakistani army murderously suppress Bangladeshi freedom fighters during the 1971 war.

The students took Hasina’s attempt to defame their movement by calling her a traitor, and responded with the slogan: “Ami ke? Tumi ke? Razakar! Razakar! Ke bolechhe? Ke bolechhe? Shwoirachar! Shwoirachar!” (“Who am I? Who are you? Razakar! Razakar! Who says that? Who says that? Who says that? Dictator! Dictator!”). However, in my opinion, the movement could have used more strategic slogans that would distance us from these traitors of 1971 and leave less room for criticism; the pro-government forces used this as a weapon to further degrade the movement’s demands.

The Chhatra League, the student wing of Hasina’s ruling Awami League party, has a long history of attacking movements and critics. Its members were given the green light by an Awami League minister on national television to “silence the protesters.” We have seen many students gunned down in videos circulating on social media, although the same minister has denied that such killings have taken place.

It remains unclear whether the killings were carried out by the Chhatra League or other opposition groups that took advantage of the provocations in this time of desperation. All we know so far is that there have been many deaths and injuries after the protests quickly escalated and spread across the country, from students at private universities to other civilians.

The government initially tried to suppress the protests by closing all educational institutions while torturing and brutalizing protesters. Military and border guards were deployed, and they imposed a nationwide curfew and cut off internet and phone communications across the country. The government now records more than two hundred protesters killed and thousands injured.