Please note: This is a developing story.

On the 15th of July 2024, thousands of Bangladeshi students blocked major intersections and the police precinct in Shahbagh, a popular square in Dhaka, as a form of peaceful protest against the quota system, a method that categorises and limits government jobs based on merit and various other categories.

However, within a few days, violence erupted as the Bangladesh Chhatra League [BCL], the pro-government student wing, attacked the student protestors with sticks, rods and clubs, even using revolvers against them. The situation turned dark and deadly when security forces started using excessive force against student protestors, shooting rubber bullets, tear gas and grenades, including shooting from a helicopter. The government blamed political opponents for the unrest and responded to the protests with curfews and a total shutdown of the internet across the country on the 18th of July. The internet was only partially restored on the 23rd of July. This has been one of the deadliest and bloodiest student protests in the history of the country.

What is the Current Quota System?

Pakistan had a quota system in place from 1956, with 20% of jobs based on merit and the rest allocated by provinces, including 40% to East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh, due to its population size. After Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, Mujibur Rahman, founder of Bangladesh, established a quota system in 1972, reserving 30% of jobs for freedom fighters, 10% for women affected by the war, 40% for poor districts and 20% based on merit. This system faced protests in 1973 and was modified in 1976, reducing the quota for poorer districts to 20%. 

In 2018, anti-quota movements emerged after the Bangladesh High Court rejected a petition challenging the legality of the quota system. Protestors demanded a reduction to 10%. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Mujibur Rahman, initially declared she would not end the quotas due to their significance in her father’s legacy and post-independence period. However, she later banned all quotas, including those for indigenous people.

Why are the Students protesting?

Sheikh Hasina, 76, who secured her fourth straight term as prime minister in January, in a controversial election boycotted by the country’s main opposition parties, attempted to bring back the quota that reserved 30% of jobs to descendants of freedom fighters.

The quota system in this day and age has the potential for corruption, and with freedom fighters now dead and their children older, students fear that this is another way for Awami League supporters to gain access to the bureaucratic system that gives them undue power in this current contentious political climate. The protesting movement is now known 

”Students against Discrimination Movement” and is not associated with any specific political party. The students are not protesting the quota system itself but rather, they want a system reform that is fair and not susceptible to corruption or nepotism. The protesting students opposed any changes to quotas given to indigenous and poorer citizens. 

Their peaceful rally on 19th July turned deadly within a few hours when the security forces responded with disproportionate force. Students claimed that the police attacked them by throwing tear gas shells. A few students picked up those tear gas shells and threw them back towards the policemen. After being trapped on campus, some protesters started hurling bricks and stones at police who responded with shotgun fire, tear gas and sound grenades, while a helicopter fired from the air. Hospitals in the city saw large numbers of injured, many arriving on foot drenched in blood. Emergency departments were overwhelmed as hundreds of patients flooded in over a short span of time.

Violent clashes have not only been held in Bangladesh; In Brick Lane, Whitechapel, on Thursday, July 18th, alongside hundreds of protesters, there were violent clashes between two opposing sides due to the protests in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, critics have argued that this has exaggerated racial abuse on migrants and their behaviour in the United Kingdom, particularly after Starmers controversial comments about Bengali asylum seekers, which, according to Councillor Sabina Akhtar were made to cater to the more conservative members of the public, resulting in Bangladeshis being a scapegoat. 

Student-led protests were a key factor during the liberation movement and the irony does not leave us. It is now students’ blood and bodies littering the streets and hospitals, and with student leaders allegedly being tortured and raided from their homes despite student-led protests being a key factor in the independence struggle in 1971.

With a country with a bloody history from the liberation movement, where there have been over 200,000 deaths during the movement, Sheikh Hasina has once again made the mistake of ignoring history by creating a pro-liberation and anti-liberation divide by calling protesting students “Razakers”. 

While Mujibur Rahman announced Bangladesh’s independence, the majority of Bangladesh, regardless of whether they were Awami League supporters, rose from students and professors to farmers to defend the country and support the liberation. Hasina calling the students “Razakars” meaning “Traitors” who supported the Pakistani military has caused widespread public outrage as it trivialises the protestors and takes away focus from the fact that this protest is about corruption and accountability.

The Aftermath

The Bangladesh Supreme Court said it would order the government to reduce the quota reserved for descendants of the 1971 from 30% of all government jobs to 5%. This means 93% of government jobs will be given based on merit with 2% for reserved categories like indigenous people and citizens of poorer districts.

Sheikh Hasina, who stopped a trip to Spain due to the unrest and protests, has demanded the protests stop as well as offered students an audience with the government. However the students refused to accept her demands until she issued a public apology and accounted for all the dead. Students said they would vow to continue protesting till their demands are met. Their demands include compensation for families whose members were killed or injured due to police violence in areas where students were killed, as well as ensuring students protesting will not face any academic penalties.

The violence and police brutality has led to many deaths and while the current death toll is not specific as the internet has only just come back after being shut off for nearly five days. The current estimates are at 200 with thousands more injured. However students and  human rights groups fear the number is higher as there are many people dying on the streets from injuries, and the police are tampering with causes of death in reports. Due to the unprecedented deaths of what started as peaceful protests the following slogan is being chanted in some parts of Dhaka right now after the recent quota news:

আগে লাশের হিসাব, পরে কোটার হিসাব।

Age lasher hishab, Pore quotar hishab

First count the bodies. Then focus on quota.

The protests, which began with the unfairness of the quota system, have stemmed into a protest against the corruption of the government and their lack of accountability, as they use the independence movement to label anyone against them as an anti-libertarian in order to reduce their legitimacy and take power from their words. The protests are not just about the quota anymore; It’s another form of protesting against the government’s unjust actions as well as their lack of accountability, similar to the protests against drafting for the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1970 and the university encampments that are still continuing to protest against university investments in Israel.

Sheikh Hasina Resigns

After a prolonged and controversial tenure, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina finally resigned and fled the country on Monday 7th August. By the weekend, the demonstrations spiralled into a campaign seeking Hasina’s overthrow as demonstrators demanded justice for people killed last month.

The student-led group, rejected Hasina’s offer for talks, launching a nationwide non-cooperation movement with a single demand: Hasina’s resignation.

Hasina, 76, departed Dhaka on a military aircraft, landing at Hindon airfield near Delhi. The Indian Foreign Ministry confirmed her arrival, noting that she sought refuge in India following a meeting with security leaders. She remains in India as of the latest updates.

In response, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament and announced the formation of an interim government. Student leaders who spearheaded the movement that led to Hasina’s overthrow said they want Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus to be chief adviser of the interim government.

If you wish to learn more about the history of protests, Nijjor Manush, an independent campaigning group, is organising an event on the history of Bangladesh protests next week. Details will be posted on their social media. 

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References

• History of the quota system in Bangladesh
• What is happening at the quota-reform protests in Bangladesh?
• History of quotas in Bangladesh
• Violence Breaks Out in London Linked to Bangladesh Protests
• Violence breaks out in London
• Remembering the war of 1971 in East Pakistan
• Drenched in blood – how Bangladesh protests turned deadly