Once again, there is chaos on the streets in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ignored the ultimatum to apologize, after which the anger of the students has erupted and they have come out on the streets against the government. Local students are demanding the release of their leaders. The government arrested the protesting student leaders and sent them to jail.
The students had given an ultimatum to the government to apologize for the unrest in the country, which was ignored by the government and the students have started protesting again. Earlier on Monday, the Bangladesh government accepted for the first time that about 150 people have died across the country in the unrest. The government has announced nationwide mourning.
Army called in to suppress protests
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Violence erupted in Bangladesh recently and the government called in the army to suppress protests against job quotas. Protests began in universities and colleges earlier this month and then turned into a widespread movement against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government. Several thousand people, including policemen, have been injured in the unrest and major government installations have been damaged.
Nationwide mourning will be observed
Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain said in a media briefing after a meeting chaired by PM Hasina, the government has decided that a nationwide mourning will be observed tomorrow (Tuesday). He has urged people to wear black badges. He said mosques, temples, pagodas and churches across the country have also been urged to pray for the departed souls and the injured.
Hussain said that Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal presented a report about the situation in the meeting and confirmed the death of 150 people in clashes across the country. This information came to light when military and paramilitary forces came out to patrol the streets of the capital Dhaka. The police is also keeping a close watch. In fact, a group of protesting students has again called for a protest. The protesters said that our leaders have been taken into police custody under pressure.
What are the demands of the students?
Students staged sporadic protests on the streets, but were quickly dispersed by police in parts of the capital and elsewhere. The student says the prime minister should publicly apologise for the unrest, sack several of his ministers and reopen schools and universities across the country. Schools, colleges and universities have been closed indefinitely due to the unrest.
What did the Supreme Court order?
On July 21, amid violent protests, the Bangladesh Supreme Court cancelled the High Court’s decision to retain the quota system in government jobs. However, the apex court did not completely abolish this reservation system. Attorney General AM Aminuddin said that the Supreme Court has considered the High Court’s order to retain the quota system as ‘illegal’. He said, ‘The apex court in its decision ordered to fill 93 percent of the posts in government jobs on the basis of merit. At the same time, it asked to reserve only 7 percent posts for the descendants of the freedom fighters of the 1971 Liberation War and other categories.’ Under the quota system currently in place in Bangladesh, 56 percent of government jobs were reserved. Of these, 30 percent were reserved for the descendants of the fighters of the 1971 Liberation War, 10 percent for backward administrative districts, 10 percent for women, 5 percent for ethnic minority groups and 1 percent for disabled people. Students are agitating against the 30 percent reservation given to the descendants of freedom fighters. Let us tell you that every year only about 3 thousand government jobs are released in Bangladesh, for which about 4 lakh candidates apply.
Why did students take to the streets?
In 2018, there was a violent student movement in Bangladesh against this quota system. The Sheikh Hasina government then decided to suspend the quota system. The descendants of the freedom fighters of the Mukti Sangram challenged this decision of the government in the High Court. The High Court last month canceled the decision of the Sheikh Hasina government and ruled to retain the quota system. After this decision of the court, violent protests started across Bangladesh. The protesters damaged public property, set buses and trains on fire. The situation became so uncontrollable that the Hasina government had to deploy the army on the streets.
Mobile internet services were suspended and a curfew was imposed in Bangladesh on July 17. The government called in the army to assist the police and the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to suppress the protests. According to media reports, more than 200 people have been killed across the country. The widely circulated ‘Prothom Alo’ newspaper cited 210 deaths, including 113 children. At least 9,000 people have been arrested across the country since the beginning of the unrest, the newspaper said.
Mobile internet services restored
Bangladeshi officials said they had shut down mobile internet and major social media platforms 10 days ago. Now internet services have been restored in the country. The situation has returned to normal after the protests ended. 4G mobile internet services resumed on Sunday, hours after the announcement by state Telecommunications and Information Communication Technology Minister Junaid Ahmed Palak. However, social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube will remain banned.