In Bangladesh, student protests calling for changes to the government’s job quota system have resulted in an increase in violence that has left at least 32 people dead and over 2,500 injured. A day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the network in an attempt to defuse the worsening conflicts, the situation deteriorated on Thursday when protesting students set fire to the state broadcaster.
For weeks, hundreds of university students in Dhaka and other cities have been rallying against the quota system in public sector jobs, which includes reservations for the relatives of war heroes who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.
What set off the protests in Bangladesh?
The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had decided to do away with the government job quota in 2018, but the Bangladesh High Court overturned that decision last year, sparking the start of demonstrations. After the government appealed, the Supreme Court, however, set August 7 as the date for hearing the government’s petition and postponed the High Court’s order.
When Sheikh Hasina refused to accede to the students’ requests, citing legal processes, the rallies became more violent.
Following conflicts between thousands of anti-quota protestors and members of Hasina’s Awami League party’s student branch, they turned violent this week. To no effect, the police scattered the demonstrators with noise grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets. Authorities have closed the trains to and from Dhaka as well as the metro rail within the capital since Thursday afternoon due to the violence.
Additionally, the government issued orders to shut down mobile internet networks in a number of the nation’s regions. NetBlocks, an outage monitor, reports that Bangladesh had a “near-total internet shutdown.” According to PTI, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student arm of the ruling Awami League, had a hacked website and the Bangladesh police website was down earlier on Thursday.
In response to the growing demonstrations, the government of Bangladesh has also mandated the permanent closure of colleges and institutions.
What demands do the students have?
The students are calling for an end to a system of quotas that reserves over half of government positions for particular groups, such as the offspring of veterans of the nation’s 1971 war of freedom against Pakistan.
What has the government of Bangladesh, led by Sheikh Hasina, stated?
Following new outbreaks of violence across the nation on Thursday, Bangladesh’s Law Minister Anisul Huq stated his openness to negotiate with the students who were demonstrating. “We will sit whenever they agree, and it may even be on Thursday afternoon.He stated, as cited by PTI, “Government has agreed to hold talks with the quota reformists.”
Meanwhile, Hasina condemned the loss of lives and called for patience until the Supreme Court delivers its verdict.
Simran
