DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — More protests were taking place in Bangladesh on Friday against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government to demand justice for more than 200 people killed in last month’s violent demonstrations despite reforms announced in the job quota system which prompted weeks of protests.
Over 2,000 protesters gathered in parts of the capital Dhaka, some shouting “down with the autocrat” and chanting justice for the victims as police officers circled around them.
Police clashed with dozens of students in Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood while security officials fired teargas and stun grenades to disperse the stone-throwing protesters.
It marked the latest round of demonstrations against Hasina, whose government has been roiled by student protests that show no immediate signs of dying down yet.
Analysts say that what began as a peaceful demonstration by students against a quota system that allocated government jobs has morphed into a bloody and extraordinary rebellion against Hasina, whose 15-year-long dominance over the country is now being tested like never before.
Since the violence erupted on July 15, protests have become a major crisis for the 76-year-old, who retained power for a fourth consecutive term in January amid an election boycotted by her main opponents, making the result a near certainty even before votes were counted.
Authorities shut off the internet and enforced a shoot-on-sight curfew to tackle violent demonstrations. Schools and universities remain closed.
Deaths of protesters shook Bangladesh, as videos on social media showed violent clashes between security forces and students, with officers firing bullets and tear gas shells. In one incident, a six-year-old girl was shot while playing on a rooftop as her father attempted to shield her from the firing.
It began with students, frustrated by shortages of good jobs, demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs that they argued was discriminatory. Under it, 30% of such jobs were reserved for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971. They said it benefited supporters of Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, and wanted it replaced with a merit-based system.
In response, the Supreme Court scaled back the veterans’ quota down to 5%. But the anger and protests have continued to fester. This, experts say, reflects a much larger public fury against the government, economic discontent and ultimately, an uprising against Hasina herself despite her development agenda bringing comfort to people.
“There have been plenty of protests during the Awami League’s regime over the last 15 years, but nothing as large, long, and violent as this one,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.
And that’s because there was a perfect storm this time, he added, of an unpopular quota system, a ferocious government response that turned deadly, pent-up anger against the state and growing economic stress felt by the majority of citizens. And the government’s often heavy-handed tactic of cracking down through a mix of force and some negotiations has only “inflamed the protests instead of extinguishing them” this time, Kugelman said.
The furore has also highlighted the extent of economic discontent in Bangladesh, once hailed for its growth success story. Like other countries, it suffered following the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which drove up prices of commodities. Today, exports have fallen, foreign exchange reserves are running low and so are remittances. The slowdown has spotlighted the lack of good quality jobs for young graduates, who are increasingly flocking towards government jobs which are more stable and lucrative.
For many students, this is what drove them out on the streets – but the government’s violent response has kept them there, even as the quota system was scaled back. Groups of students, teachers and civil society members say they are now fighting for justice for those who have been killed, while Hasina’s political opponents are demanding her resignation.
Mohammad Rakib Uddin, an 18-year-old college student was protesting alongside hundreds of others when bullets pierced his hip. Uddin says he was wearing his college uniform and survived after his friends rushed him to hospital.
“They have brutally and inhumanely attacked us. We are general students — we don’t have weapons, bombs or even a stick in our hands. We were protesting by just holding flags,” he said. “Many who were with me might have died as they were shot at their waists and heads. By the grace of the Almighty, I am alive,” he added.
But the government said opposition activists and their armed cadres joined students to attack security officials and state-owned establishments.
The violence, for the most part, has subsided now and normalcy is slowly returning to the country. The curfew has been relaxed, the internet has been restored and banks and offices have opened their doors.
But the turmoil has continued to swirl around Hasina, drawing international outcry from the United Nations and the U.S.
To her critics, the last few weeks of violent unrest were a result of her authoritarian streak and hunger for control, no matter the cost. For years, her political opponents accused her of an anti-democratic pattern as her government jailed thousands of them. Global human rights groups blamed her for using security forces and courts to suppress dissent and her opposition, which the government denied.
Still, Hasina resorted to blaming the two main opposition parties — which backed the students — of fuelling the violence. Her government banned one of them, the J amaat-e-Islami, its student wing and other associate bodies on Thursday, which could again escalate tensions.
However, Kugelman doesn’t believe there are immediate threats to her political survival.
“But she has incurred soaring reputational costs and faces unprecedented political vulnerability. That could come back to haunt her if there are fresh waves of anti-government protests in the coming weeks or months,” he added.
The question on the minds of many citizens now is, when will Bangladesh return to normalcy?
Nur Sharmin, a 35-year-old mother, says her family’s lives have come to a standstill. Her 16-year-old daughter’s school is shut and she is worried about her future. Sharmin is afraid to step out of her home on most days.
“Everything has changed after all these horrible incidents,” she said. “I just want to live as a normal citizen in a safe environment. My daughter needs a safe country to grow up in, it’s her right. We are not asking for much.”
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AP’s video journalist Al Emrun Garjon contributed to this report.