Two-week-old anti-quota protests in Bangladesh turned violent after groups linked to the ruling party attacked student protesters in the capital, Dhaka.
More than 400 people were injured on Monday and Tuesday during attacks on protesters who are against the government’s job quota system amid rising unemployment in the South Asian country.
The protests began on July 1, after the High Court reinstated the employment quota that reserves a third of civil service positions for children of fighters who participated in the country’s liberation movement in 1971.
So what sparked the current protests and why is the quota system facing opposition?
Who is protesting against employment quotas in Bangladesh?
Students at public and private universities across Bangladesh are demanding reforms to the conventional employment quota system, under which more than half of much sought-after government jobs are reserved.
Protesters stated that they are not aligned with any political group and that they want a merit-based system that is fair for everyone.
Fahim Faruki, a protester and third-year international relations student at Dhaka University, said the students organized the protests through a Facebook group and were not supported by any political organization.
The protest movement became known as the Students Against Discrimination movement. Thousands of students from the capital’s Dhaka University as well as Chittagong University organized demonstrations against the quota system.
What triggered the recent protests?
On June 5, the High Court ordered the reinstatement of the 30 percent quota for children of freedom fighters, deeming the abolition of quotas in 2018 illegal. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League abolished the quota system after massive protests.
On Wednesday, Dhaka University students blocked major intersections and the police station in Shahbagh, a popular square in Dhaka. The student-led blockade of Shahbagh Square continued for days.
What is the quota system in Bangladesh?
In 1972, the country’s founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, introduced a quota system, reserving a percentage of government jobs for children and grandchildren of people who fought in Pakistan’s 1971 war of independence.
Under the system, 44 percent of first- and second-class government jobs are based on “merit.”
The remaining 56 percent is reserved for specific communities:
- 30 percent for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters
- 10 percent for women
- “Zila Quota” of 10 percent for “backward” districts
- 5 percent for ethnic minorities
- 1 percent for people with physical disabilities
What do anti-quota protesters want?
Anti-quota protesters demand the abolition of the 30 percent quota for children of freedom fighters.
They support the reservation of jobs for ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.
“Our protest is not against the quota system. Instead, it is for system reform,” Faruki said.
Another protester, Ayan*, 23, who also has a degree in international relations from Dhaka University, agreed, saying that he does not want the quota system to be completely abolished, but rather the percentage of reserved jobs to be reduced.
How did the government respond?
The government deployed riot forces who fired tear gas and attacked with batons on Tuesday during violent clashes between protesters and a group of pro-government students. Paramilitary troops were also deployed to several districts amid rising tensions.
On Thursday, student protesters at the public Comilla University, southeast of Dhaka, clashed with police, who opened fire, local media reported. As a result, twenty people, including students and three police officers, were injured, local media reported.
Ruling party leaders and ministers tried to paint the protesters as anti-national and anti-government after Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, referred to them as “Razakars”.
In Bangladesh, Razakar is an offensive term referring to those who betrayed Bangladesh in the 1971 war by collaborating with Pakistan.
“Why do they have so much resentment towards freedom fighters? If freedom fighters’ grandchildren don’t get quota benefits, should Razakars’ grandchildren get the benefit?” she asked at a news conference on Sunday.
In response, protesters shouted the slogan: “Who are you? Who am I? Razakar, Razakar”, during a protest at Dhaka University.
A student leader quoted in a local media outlet said the slogan was chosen by students in response to government efforts to discredit their movement.
Asif Nazrul, a law professor at the University of Dhaka, told Al Jazeera that the message the students intended to convey through their slogans was clear. “I doubt any student at Dhaka University identifies himself as Razakar,” he said.
Nazrul also criticized the government’s response, suggesting that it was eager to suppress the protests and found a convenient pretext to do so.
Students from across Bangladesh took to the streets with mass processions in response to PM Hasina’s framing of quota reform protesters as heirs of Rajakar (collaborators who helped Pakistan in 1971)
Chant “Who are you, who am I? Rajakar, Rajakar” filling the air across the country. #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/M157oZ7Qqx
-Mehedi Hasan Marof (@MehediMarof) July 14, 2024
How many people were killed and injured in the protests?
At least five people were killed, law enforcement officials said.
As of Tuesday, more than 400 people were injured and 297 were treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, news agency AFP reported.
Were there clashes between protesters and the Chhatra League?
Protesters blamed the student wing of the ruling party, the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), for the violence. Faruki said BCL members called protesters into the university hostel before the attack.
“They surrounded us from the tall buildings and threw stones and small pieces of bricks at us. Many students were injured.”
Faruki added that the BCL was armed, leaving the protesters powerless against them.
“We were unarmed. How will we get weapons?
The student protesters said they were also not protected from BCL in hospitals. “The student league entered the [Dhaka Medical College] Hospital and attacked there,” alleged Faruki.
Ayan was in the hospital emergency room after several of his friends were injured and said no security guards or police protected the BCL protesters.
On the other hand, BCL President Saddam Hossain said that more than 100 of its leaders and activists were injured in the violence, Anadolu Agency reported. Hossain insisted that the student body was provoked.
“Those who openly identify as ‘Razakar’ must face consequences. Such individuals have no place in this country and we have decided to politically confront students protesting against quota reforms,” he said during a press conference on Monday.
Protests continued on Tuesday, disrupting traffic in Dhaka.
“We will not abandon the protests until our demands are met,” Ayan said.
*Name changed for privacy.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
