It is a country scarred by three weeks of violence. While the leader of the student protests has called for the demonstrations to be suspended and the army speaks of a situation now “under control”franceinfo looks back at the student revolt in Bangladesh, during which at least 174 people died and more than 2,500 were arrested, according to a count established by AFP.
Quota system favouring those close to power provokes protests
Student demonstrations began in early July, in protest against a system of quotas for recruitment in public sector jobs. In total, 30% of these jobs must be reserved for the children of “freedom fighters”, having participated in the Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan in 1971. Students and young graduates are mobilizing against this system, claiming it is being used to award government jobs to loyalists of the ruling Awami League party, while around 18 million young people are unemployed in Bangladesh, according to government figures.
After several days of blocking roads, highways and railway lines, the head of government, Sheikh Hasina, in power for more than fifteen years, insists that students “wasting their time” and that there was no “no justification” to demand a reform of the system. His statement does not dampen the mobilization of students, who are demanding the complete abolition of quotas.
Dozens of people killed in three days
Ten days after the start of the movement, the police began using rubber bullets and tear gas. In Dhaka, the capital of the country, the police were however overwhelmed by the thousands of young demonstrators, who managed to dismantle a barricade of the police and climbed on a police vehicle, according to images broadcast by the local television channel Jamuna TV.
The situation deteriorated on July 15. According to the police, More than 400 people are injured in clashes between protesters and members of the student wing of the ruling party on the university campus. Police inspector Bacchu Mia tells AFP that “297 people were treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital”. Meanwhile, 111 other protesters from Jahangirnagar University are being treated at a campus clinic and a nearby hospital.
On July 16, six people were killed in clashes. Three protesters, with “gunshot wounds”died in Chittagong, the hospital director told AFP. Two others died in Dhaka, where rival groups of students threw bricks at each other, Bacchu Mia said. In the northern city of Rangpur, police said a student was also killed in clashes, without giving details.
The government then ordered the closure of all schools and universities and the paramilitary forces of the Bangladesh Border Guard were deployed in five major cities. At the University of Dhaka, the funeral of the six dead, organized by more than 500 protesters on July 17, was quickly interrupted by riot police.
The Prime Minister spoke on television the same day to call for calm, while condemning the “murder” protesters. She promises that those responsible would be punished, regardless of their political affiliation.
This speech had no effect. The demonstrations resumed on July 18. At least 25 people were killed and hundreds injured during the clashes, according to a count established by AFP based on data provided by hospitals.
In Dhaka, protesters set fire to the headquarters of BTV, Bangladesh’s state-run television channel, dozens of police stations and other government buildings, chanting “Down with the dictator”According to Independent Television, clashes are taking place in at least 26 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts.
A near-total internet blackout and a 24-hour curfew
In order to regain control of the situation, the authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout in the country on July 19. Public gatherings in Dhaka were also banned for “ensure public safety”. Meanwhile, thousands of people storm a prison in the central district of Narsingdi, according to Moushumi Sarker, a senior local official. Late at night, the government finally declares a 24-hour curfew and deploys the army to maintain order in the cities.
Despite this measure, thousands of people returned to demonstrate in the streets from July 20. Clashes, with live ammunition, took place between the police and the demonstrators, notes an AFP journalist. The toll of the number of people killed in the demonstrations stands at 133, according to the count carried out at the time by the French press agency.
Supreme Court rules against quota system
Faced with the situation in the country, the Supreme Court, seized concerning the quota system, advances its decision. In its decision, unveiled Sunday, it sharply reduces the number of public jobs reserved for the children of “freedom fighters”, reducing it from 30% to 5%. In addition, 1% of the positions are reserved for tribal communities and 1% for people with disabilities or identifying with a third gender under Bangladeshi law. The remaining 93% of positions are now awarded on merit, the Court ruled.
Despite this announcement, the main student group behind the protests, Students Against Discrimination, has decided to continue the movement. Following the tightening of police repression, tens of thousands of young Bangladeshis are now demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina. The death toll reached 155 on Sunday, including several police officers, according to the new AFP report.
Student movement leader calls for protests to be suspended
The army said Monday that order had been restored. For his part, the leader of Students Against Discrimination, Nahid Islam calls for “to suspend “48 hour demonstrations”asking the government “to lift the curfew during this period, to restore access to the internet and to stop attacking student protesters”The government assured Tuesday that high-speed internet would be restored on Thursday.
“We did not want a quota reform at the cost of so much blood, so much murder, so much damage,” assure Nahid Islam to AFP. The leader of the student protests in Bangladesh claims to have been arrested and beaten by police until he lost consciousness, and to have woken up on the side of a road in Dhaka the next day. “We who coordinate the movement fear for our lives. Several of my colleagues have disappeared”he explained to AFP. The movement decided on Tuesday to extend by 48 hours the suspension of protests.
Several members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition party, were also arrested, according to the police spokesman. In total, 2,580 people were arrested, according to a new count by AFP on Tuesday, 174 people have died during these three weeks of violence, including police officers.
Bodies of the deceased stuck in hospital
Families are now trying to recover the bodies of the deceased to bury them as quickly as possible, mBut staff at Dhaka’s largest hospital cannot hand over the bodies of the deceased to their relatives without police permission.Families are invited to go to a police station near the hospital, but these are currently destroyed or barricaded, after dozens of fires targeted police stations in previous days, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.