Politics

Public Jobs for Veterans’ Relatives, Bangladesh Risks Revolution

The Bangladeshi government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has imposed a curfew in the country after bloodily suppressing student revolts over the past two days, resulting in over a hundred deaths. The unrest stems from protests against the public sector job allocation system, which has seen a real popular uprising and the storming of prisons, from which hundreds of inmates have been freed. For this reason, the Army has been deployed to quell the demonstrations, with military personnel and police patrolling the largely deserted streets of the capital Dhaka.

Dozens of people were reportedly killed last week and several thousand more were believed to be injured, Reuters news agency reported, citing data from hospitals across the country.

On Friday, July 19, Dhaka Medical College Hospital reported receiving 27 bodies, while the death toll in the country has risen to 114. “Now it’s war,” student groups announce, as protests over quotas in Bangladesh intensify and students defy government orders by occupying universities. Around 300 police officers have been injured so far in what appears to be a nascent revolution that is fueled by great economic insecurity.

Since Thursday, July 18, the government has also imposed a near-total internet blackout and intermittent mobile communications in the nation of 170 million, allowing only a two-hour curfew easing from midday on Saturday to allow people to shop, as reported by fellow Al Jazeera journalist Tanvir Chowdhury, who also confirmed hearing gunshots in central Dhaka.

“The public is worried because they did not expect the deployment of the army,” Chowdhury explained, “but now that the military is on the streets, part of the population feels relieved because there is a lot of respect for the military in the country. However, the atmosphere is gloomy because so many people have died and people do not understand why there was such a harsh repression for the students who were peaceful.”

There has been no official confirmation so far (noon in Italy on Sunday) on when the curfew might be lifted, but it is expected to remain in place at least until this evening. Protests have been going on for weeks, but the past three days have seen a sharp increase in violence. The demonstrations began peacefully after the country’s High Court on June 5 ordered the reinstatement of a quota that reserves 30% of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

So as the nation grapples with economic problems, including rising food prices and high unemployment, especially among the youth, many citizens have joined the protests. “There are a lot of ordinary people who support the students, there is a lot of frustration in the country right now and a lot of people don’t accept this government and feel like the prime minister has come to power by force,” Chowdhury reports.

The current protests are the largest to date and have threatened the current government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after her re-election to a fourth term earlier this year. Hasina, for her part, immediately cancelled planned diplomatic trips to Spain and Brazil to address the situation. After Friday’s crackdown, protesters called for greater accountability from the government before agreeing to sit down with government officials for talks, while a petition filed with the state Supreme Court has put the quota restoration on hold for a month pending a hearing scheduled for August 7.

Meanwhile, many opposition party leaders who had expressed support for the students and protesters have been arrested along with activists and organizers of the protest. On Saturday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced in a statement that it had facilitated the return of nearly 1,000 Indian nationals from Bangladesh and that another 4,000 students who remained in various universities were receiving consular assistance. Meanwhile, on the afternoon of the same day, the United States of America recalled non-essential diplomatic personnel and urged its citizens to leave the country.