Students Against Discrimination, a prominent activist group in Bangladesh, has called upon the public to sustain their protests against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following violent clashes over the country’s controversial civil service quotas. These quotas allocate government jobs to the descendants of liberation war veterans, a policy that incited significant civil unrest led by student activists last month. The protests, which escalated around mid-July, resulted in the deaths of over 200 individuals, including students and police officers, marking the deadliest conflict in Bangladesh in more than a decade.
The leader of Students Against Discrimination, Asif Mahmud, utilized social media to urge continued street demonstrations and outlined key actions to amplify the movement’s impact. Among these actions were calls for tax boycotts and demands for Prime Minister Hasina’s resignation. Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, recently secured her fourth consecutive election victory amidst critiques of lacking substantial opposition.
The unrest initiated on July 1 and intensified at Dhaka University before rapidly spreading nationwide. The clashes between students and law enforcement resulted in considerable property damage, including attacks on government facilities and public infrastructure such as metro stations and power substations. More than 9,000 arrests have been reported, encompassing a wide range of individuals from various professions.
According to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, law enforcement exercised restraint, claiming they only resorted to force when necessary to safeguard government properties. However, video evidence and eyewitness accounts suggest a more aggressive approach by the police. To restore order, the government imposed a nationwide curfew and deployed military personnel, which has seen gradual easing but remains in effect for many areas.
Furthermore, the Bangladeshi government attempted to suppress communication by initiating an 11-day shutdown of mobile internet services, which were only restored on July 29, as announced by the Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, Zunaid Ahmed Palak. Despite efforts to regain control, the country remains in a precarious state.
Adding to the tension, another activist leader, Nahid Islam, was reportedly taken from a hospital by plainclothes detectives, with their current whereabouts unknown. Most recently, the opposition party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, were banned on charges of crimes against humanity and terrorist activities related to the quota reform upheaval.
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