Bangladesh Socio-Political Crisis 2024

[Al-Zakir]

Anti-quota movement: ‘Bangla Blockade’ to continue on Monday
Tribune Desk
Publish : 07 Jul 2024, 20:35
Anti-quota movement: ‘Bangla Blockade’ to continue on Monday
As part of their anti-quota movement, students have said they will continue their “Bangla Blockade,” or roadblocks at key points on the streets, on Monday.

Nahid Islam, the movement's coordinator, made the announcement at 8pm on Sunday, saying the blockade would start at 3:30pm.

Earlier, the demonstrators said law enforcement had sat down for discussions with the chief coordinator of the movement, Nahid Islam, and key coordinators, Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah.

Education minister suspects possible conspiracy behind anti-quota protestsEducation minister suspects possible conspiracy behind anti-quota protests
However, after some time, Hasnat returned to Shahbagh and reported that they had been taken to meet with a team of representatives from the prime minister.

Sarjis Alam said: "Our protest is not against the constitution. If we look at the distribution of seats in our parliament, we see that of the 350 seats, 50 are reserved, amounting to 14%. If the quota were 56%, there would be 196 reserved seats. When our parliament, representing the entire country, has a 14% quota, why should government jobs have a 56% quota?"

Meanwhile, Hasnat said: "To those who think we have political motives, you will not see us in any other movement if we succeed in this one. We will return to our studies, where we belong.

‘Bangla Blockade’ on Dhaka-Chittagong highway causes severe traffic jam‘Bangla Blockade’ on Dhaka-Chittagong highway causes severe traffic jam
"We previously had a four-point demand, but from tomorrow, we will have just one demand: abolish unreasonable and discriminatory quotas in all grades, reduce the quotas to the minimum level for the backward groups mentioned in the constitution and reform the quota system by passing a law in parliament.'"

On the other hand, Nahid said they had been finally able to grab everyone's attention, including the prime minister's. "She once declared in favour of students in 2018, and we hope she will do the same again. We have no other option but to protest to claim our right."

"Our class and exam boycott will continue for an indefinite period. Blockades will be maintained at various points across the country. We went to Karwan Bazar from Shahbag today, and tomorrow we will pass Farmgate. We will gather at 3:30 tomorrow for our next activity."

From the evening onwards, demonstrators started gathering at Shahbagh from various points in the capital. In fulfilling their announced program demanding quota reform, they had blocked several key intersection in Dhaka.

After announcing their next program, they began to leave Shahbagh, and traffic started to return to normal.

PM Hasina rejects anti-quota demands, calls movement unjustifiedPM Hasina rejects anti-quota demands, calls movement unjustified
Standstill
Demanding the abolition of quotas in government jobs, students blocked several intersections in the capital from 3pm, including Nilkhet, Science Lab, Karwan Bazar, Banglamotor, Chankharpul and Agargaon.

With various major intersections blocked one by one, the capital came to a standstill, with hundreds of vehicles halted on every road and thousands of people trying to reach their destinations on foot.

At the Banglamotor intersection, a woman named Afifa Firoz said she was heading home to Moghbazar with her child in a rickshaw from Science Lab. “However, the students stopped us at Banglamotor. Now, we cannot go anywhere.”

Anti-quota protesters play football on empty Dhaka roadAnti-quota protesters play football on empty Dhaka road
Frustrated, a man named Sirajul Islam said many people were walking, questioning how one could stay in the same place for hours.

At the Panthapath intersection, two people, Mahmud and Juthi, said they had to walk from Paltan as no vehicles were moving.

Traffic Inspector (TI) Md Habib said in line with the commissioner's instructions, police were facilitating vehicle movement on alternative roads if the main roads were blocked.

The protesting students blocked roads with national flags in their hands and on their heads, holding various placards and chanting different slogans.

Our DU correspondent, Mahathir Mohammed, contribued to this report

Read more
Bangla Blockade: JnU students block Zero Point in Gulistan
Bangla Blockade: JnU students block Zero Point in Gulistan
Anti-quota movement: Attorney General urges protesters to be patient
Anti-quota movement: Attorney General urges protesters to be patient
Dhaka roads turn empty due to anti-quota movement
Dhaka roads turn empty due to anti-quota movement
© 2A Media Limited 2024

 

[Al-Zakir]

 

[LeonBlack08]

Bangladesh job quota protesters call for nationwide shutdown​

Bangladesh job quota protesters call for nationwide shutdown

At least four protesters have been killed in Bangladesh as thousands call for a complete shutdown across the country. Violence has erupted between police and...

www.youtube.com

 

[LeonBlack08]

Bangladesh students intensify anti-quota protests as 11 more killed

Police use tear gas on student protesters as violent clashes over civil service hiring quotas continue to rock country.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[ghazi52]

32 dead in Bangladesh unrest, protesters set fire to state TV network​

Reuters | AFP
July 18, 2024

Students take part in the ongoing anti-quota protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 18. — AFP

Bangladeshi students set fire to the country’s state broadcaster on Thursday, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the network seeking to calm escalating clashes that have killed at least 32 people.

Hundreds of protesters demanding reform of civil service hiring rules fought back and overwhelmed riot police who had fired at them with rubber bullets.
The incensed crowd chased the retreating officers to BTV‘s headquarters in the capital Dhaka, then set ablaze the network’s reception building and dozens of vehicles parked outside.

“Many people” were trapped inside as the fire spread, the broadcaster said in a Facebook post, but an official from the station later told AFP that they had safely evacuated the building.

 

[ghazi52]

Hasina’s government has ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely as police step up efforts to bring the country’s deteriorating law and order situation under control.

The premier appeared on the broadcaster on Wednesday night to condemn the “murder” of protesters and vow that those responsible will be punished regardless of their political affiliation.

Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government was willing to talk to the protesters. Hasina has so far rejected the protesters’ demands.

“We are willing to sit [and talk with them]. Whenever they want to sit in the discussion, it will happen,” Huq said.

But violence worsened on the streets despite her appeal for calm as police again attempted to break up demonstrations with rubber bullets and tear gas volleys.

“Our first demand is that the prime minister must apologise to us,” protester Bidisha Rimjhim, 18, told AFP.

“Secondly, justice must be ensured for our killed brothers,” she added.

At least 25 people were killed on Thursday in addition to seven killed earlier in the week, according to a tally of casualty figures from hospitals compiled by AFP, with hundreds more wounded.

Police weaponry was the cause of at least two-thirds of those deaths, based on descriptions given to AFP by hospital figures.

“We’ve got seven dead here,” an official at Uttara Crescent Hospital in the capital Dhaka, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, told AFP.

“The first two were students with rubber bullet injuries. The other five had gunshot injuries.”

Nearly 1,000 others had been treated at the hospital for injuries sustained during clashes with police, the official said, adding many had rubber bullet wounds.

Didar Malekin of the online news outlet Dhaka Times told AFP that Mehedi Hasan, one of his reporters, had been killed while covering clashes in Dhaka.

Several cities across Bangladesh saw violence throughout the day as riot police marched on protesters who had begun another round of human blockades on roads and highways.

Helicopters rescued 60 police officers who were trapped on the roof of a campus building at Canadian University, the scene of some of Dhaka’s fiercest clashes on Thursday, the elite Rapid Action Battalion police force said in a statement.

‘Calling her a dictator’​

Near-daily marches this month have demanded an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country’s 1971 war against Pakistan.

Critics say the scheme benefits children of pro-government groups that back Hasina, 76, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

On August 7, the Supreme Court is due to hear the government’s appeal against a high court verdict that ordered the reinstatement of the quota. Hasina has asked the students to be patient until the verdict.

Her administration is accused by rights groups of capturing state institutions and stamping out dissent, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladesh expert at the University of Oslo in Norway, said the protests had grown into a wider expression of discontent with Hasina’s autocratic rule.

“They are protesting against the repressive nature of the state,” he told AFP.

“Protesters are questioning Hasina’s leadership, accusing her of clinging onto power by force,” he added.

“The students are in fact calling her a dictator.”

Mobile internet down​

Bangladeshis reported widespread mobile internet outages around the country on Thursday, two days after internet providers cut off access to Facebook — the protest campaign’s key organising platform.

 

[ghazi52]

Junior telecommunications minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak told reporters that social media had been “weaponised as a tool to spread rumours, lies and disinformation”, forcing the government to restrict access.

Along with police crackdowns, demonstrators and students allied to the premier’s ruling Awami League have also battled each other on the streets with hurled bricks and bamboo rods.

Rights group Amnesty International said video evidence from clashes this week showed that Bangladeshi security forces had used unlawful force.

 

[ghazi52]

FM Dar urges safety for Pakistani students amid Bangladesh protests​

APP
July 17, 2024

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday instructed Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka Syed Maroof to ensure the safety of the country’s students amid ongoing protests in Bangladesh and to work closely with local authorities for their protection.

Bangladesh ordered schools across the country yesterday to close indefinitely after six students were killed as protests over quotas for coveted government jobs turned into deadly clashes, prompting the mobilisation of paramilitaries to keep order.

The protests are the first significant challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government since she secured a fourth consecutive term in January in an election boycotted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Experts attribute the unrest to stagnant job growth in the private sector, making government jobs, which offer regular wage hikes and other privileges, increasingly desirable.

Currently, 56 per cent of government jobs in Bangladesh are reserved under various quotas, including 10pc for women, 10pc for people from underdeveloped districts, 5pc for indigenous communities and 1pc for people with disabilities.

 

[Eşbah]

@Afif
What's your opinion on this movement?

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

The Muslims in BD are like: a sudden burst of energy following a prolonged period of inertia....

Pakistan is embedded in BD. This movement is against the affirmative actions for the descendants of the anti-Pak MB fighters....

 

[LeonBlack08]

There is complete internet blackout in Bangladesh right now. Cannot get hold of any relatives or friends in BD now.

The last known unofficial death count was up to 68. We have unofficial and unsubstiated report of heavy gunfire right now.

 

[KingQamaR]

The Muslims in BD are like: a sudden burst of energy following a prolonged period of inertia....

Pakistan is embedded in BD. This movement is against the affirmative actions for the descendants of the anti-Pak MB fighters....

It's not our war brother. Let the Bangladeshis can but they must fend for themselves. Pakistan shouldn't even think about getting us involved on ground in Bangladesh. They made their bed let them lay in it.

 

[PakAl]

Very sad to hear about the deaths, but Bangladeshi people have the right to protest for reforms, brave people I say.

 

[nibba]

It's not our war brother. Let the Bangladeshis can but they must fend for themselves. Pakistan shouldn't even think about getting us involved on ground in Bangladesh. They made their bed let them lay in it.

Hypothetically how would you “get involved on the ground” lmao

 

[vkdindian]

This movement is against the affirmative actions for the descendants of the anti-Pak MB fighters....

This seems an attempt to legitimise 1971 actions by Paksiatn in a cheeky manner. It may be a good idea to let go of that and move on.

This flare up is purely an internal matter and Paksiatn has nothing to do with it. The reservation for people linked to that event, are their own skeletons. Probably instigated by pent up frustration over lack of jobs and poor governance.