Bangladesh unrest: Anti-quota movement for public jobs escalates past student protests

By Faisal Mahmud

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) — After days of deadly turbulence, peace appears to have taken hold in Bangladesh as an ongoing curfew and internet blackout have quelled student unrest over government job quotas.

Dozens died in the violence as students and other protesters clashed with police and armed activists from the ruling party's student wings in the past few days.

While police are no longer confirming the death toll, Anadolu was able to gather from a network of hospital sources and local journalists that at least 143 people have lost their lives in the upheaval as of Monday.

One of the key demands of the protesters was an end to the quotas that reserved 56% of public-sector jobs for certain groups, such as the relatives of veterans who fought in the country's independence war from Pakistan in 1971.

On Sunday, the country’s Supreme Court scrapped a verdict reinstating the quotas, instead directing the government to issue an order lowering the quota to 7%, making recruitment for the remaining 93% based on merit.

Student leaders of the ongoing anti-quota movement now demand the government to follow through with the court’s instructions but Law Minister Anisul Hug has argued that the verdict alone should be "good enough" to call off the protests.

While several coordinators of the student movement said that they have stopped their "complete shutdown" of the country for now, they have refused to budge until all of their demands are met.

Their demands include an apology from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the deaths and the resignation of Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, who the student protesters believe provoked the nationwide violence.

According to Sanis Alam, one of the student coordinators, they can no longer go back home with a mere quota reform.

"A lot of our brothers and sisters have died. People responsible for the deaths should be made accountable. Besides, there is no guarantee that we will be safe if we call off the protest now," he told Anadolu.

On Saturday, plain-clothed police allegedly abducted Nabid Islam, another coordinator, whose whereabouts were unknown for more than 24 hours.

Islam was later found injured and admitted to a local hospital.

"I was blindfolded and beaten for hours," Islam told Anadolu. "I don't know who they were, but they tortured me mentally and physically to call off the protest.”

- ‘No longer’ a student protest

Observers and analysts believe that even if the students call off the protest now, there is no guarantee that peace will last.

"So many lives have been lost," political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman told Anadolu. "And most of them are common people, neither students nor political activists from the opposition.

"They are just common people who were not happy with the autocratic nature of this Awami League government."

Sources at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital — the biggest public healthcare facility in the country, told Anadolu that many of the dead bodies they received were strewn with live bullets.

Kurban Ali, 55, was killed on Saturday as police opened fire during a chase and counter-chase with demonstrators in the Savar area on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.

"He was just a poultry trader," said Shukkur Ali, his brother. "He, along with several others, took part in the protest as they were not happy with this government."

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that activists and leaders from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami party had taken over "peaceful" student protests, conducting vandalism and arson.

Many establishments across the nation, including important government buildings, Dhaka's metro rail, and a prison in the central district of Narshinggi, came under attack in the past four days by protesters who also ransacked several offices of the ruling Awami League and some homes of its leaders.

On Sunday, at least 150 people, including top BNP and Jamaat leaders and activists, were arrested in the capital Dhaka and the nearby district of Gazinur.

At a press briefing on Sunday evening, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakbryl Islam Alamgir urged the government to stop its "evil" efforts to blame the BNP and other opposition parties for the violence.

Analyst Rahman said people are not "buying" the narrative that the blame for the violence rests solely with the political opposition.

He said many people also took part in the protests as the students asked for their help.

When the student-led street demonstrations first broke out on Thursday, they were met with severe beatings from police and armed activists of the ruling party.

"So, they sought help from common people. Later, activists from the opposition political party joined them. So, blaming only the opposition is baseless," Rahman said.

- Public life and economy disrupted

​​​​​​​The curfew and internet blackout have crippled daily life and the economy in Bangladesh.

As nationwide restrictions disrupt supply chains, prices of essentials have skyrocketed. Dhaka resident Hasan Habib visited a market during a brief lifting of the curfew on Sunday, finding long lines at vendor stalls.

"I was able to buy a few vegetables, paying five times the price," Habib said. "My online condiment business is completely halted without internet. If this continues, I'll face financial trouble."

People are struggling to withdraw money or make online transactions due to the internet shutdown. Harnvr Rashid spent six hours in line during curfew to recharge his pre-paid electricity meter, which had been cut off since Saturday evening.

"We were so used to recharge the meter from our home through mobile financial services that it feels alien to stand in line at the electricity office and pay cash," said Rashid.

The country's already struggling economy, facing high inflation and depleted foreign reserves, has been severely impacted. Both internal and external trade have halted, leaving thousands of export-import cargoes undelivered at ports.

Sources at Shatagram port, the country's largest, told Anadolu that about 41,000 import containers remain stacked in port yards due to transportation disruptions since Tuesday.

An official from the National Board of Revenue (NBR) told Anadolu that disrupted trade and transactions are costing the government at least $100 million daily in lost revenue.

"If this continues, the entire economy will be in serious trouble," the official warned.