I would use the term ‘genocidal’ to mean the severity of the torture inflicted upon the student protesters in Bangladesh by the government and its supporters in recent days. The issue began in 2018 when discriminatory quotas were imposed on government jobs in the country. In response, university students protested and demanded a fair and equitable quota system. After months of peaceful demonstrations, their movement succeeded. The story took a temporary pause at this point.
The anti-quota movement resumed at the beginning of July this year when the High Court ordered restoring discriminatory quota system in June. 56% quotas were required for particular sections of people in job exams, including first-grade jobs, out of which 30% were for the descendents of freedom fighters, who fought for the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. The rest 44% were merit-based. Students from different colleges and universities took to the streets to protest against this imposed discrimination, demanding reinstatement or reformation. The movement also addressed other issues such as corruption and question leakage in job exams, including in civil service exams. During this stage, the students were peaceful without any kind of turbulence.
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh expressed support for the discriminatory quota system and labeled those who oppose quotas for the relatives of freedom fighters as ‘razakars’, who are known as traitors during the war of independence when the country got independence from Pakistan in 1971. This statement sparked a significant reaction, leading students to feel insulted and stage an immediate protest at midnight. They chanted a slogan: ‘Who are you? Who am I? Razakar, razakar. Who said? Who said? The PM said, PM said.’ This slogan was an ironic expression by the students. But the government responded with crackdown on them using armed ‘Chatro League’, a student wing of the ruling party, and police.
Additionally, there exists a political discourse in Bangladesh where the current government preaches that those labeled as razakars should be killed or have no right to stay in the country, contrary to international human rights law. This narrative is commonly voiced by members and leaders of the ruling party. Using this narrative, the government cleared out many of the opposition leaders in the past years. This time, similar actions are taken against Bangladeshi protesting-students.
The current Hasina led government of Bangladesh has been accumulating its power since its arrival in 2009 undermining democracy. To do so, they have dispatched brutal and unjustified measures. According to many opposition activists and leaders, the government is trying to strengthen its power through this unjustified and illogical quota system by giving those important posts to loyal persons of the government.
On a typical day, on 15th July, students from the University of Dhaka took to the streets for a peaceful procession. Suddenly, armed individuals affiliated with the ruling Awami League began attacking the peaceful protesters. They threw rocks, used cocktail bombs, guns, sticks, and iron rods to suppress the quota reformation movement, resulting in hundreds of injuries and a few deaths. This included causing serious physical and mental harm to the innocent unarmed students. A large number of female students were harassed and severely beaten. Some mobs stormed the emergency room of Dhaka Medical College Hospital to attack the vulnerable and injured students. Some students confessed that they thought that was their last day of life.
0n July 18, the police forces started attacking on various University campuses, causing about a dozen deaths and some hundreds more injured. I am a student of Jahangirnagar University. In my campus, police entered halls and attacked innocent unarmed students with tear-shell, guns, and sticks, resulting hundreds wounded. On the following days, police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) jointly started attacking the protesters with heavy weapons to suppress the protest. Tanks and helicopters were used. Shootings were so violent that pedestrians and house-insiders also got killed by bullets. Reportedly, more than 200 people were died and thousands more injured, including four to eighteen year kids. In accordance with some local media, the death toll is up to 500. All these happened during the internet blackout and in front of the eyes of the controlled mainstream media who gave biased report to satisfy the regime. Thus, the exact number is very hard to find. The country is placed under curfew deploying several armed forces all over the country.
Students go to Universities to study and work for the development of their own and the country. But regretfully, they have to face brutality from the state, just for claiming their rights. I have not seen this kind of brutality from any state so far. I wonder how a state can become so ferocious to innocent students. In the country, beating innocent students in university campuses and halls is not new to the members of the Chatro League. They beat general students for a very slight cause or, in most cases, without any reason. They torture fresher students in the guise of ‘guest room’ culture. Newcomers to universities feel extra pressure from this culture, where they are brainwashed by saying: ‘We are teaching you manners’. They use students like toys.
Brutal measures are still going on. Mass detention without warrant including persons without involvement in the movement and school students, inhuman torture in jails, and intimidation are used tools to suppress the student movement. Human rights abuses can be spotted. Electrifying private organs, severely beating different parts of the body of the captives, and sexual abuses are detected as per trusted sources.
The world is closely observing the ferocious actions of the Israeli army in Gaza and the West Bank. What is the fault of the innocent Palestinians in this situation? What wrong have the babies, women, and children committed? Don’t they deserve a peaceful life free from external fears and to live with their rightful rights? Let’s analogically pose these questions on the lives of Bangladeshi students. Then, what is your answer? Have you noticed any similarity between Zionists and the incumbent machine of Bangladesh? While India is plagued by the extreme Hindu nationalism, its neighbor suffers from the division and hatred created by the current regime against those who oppose it.
Students today are no longer just focused on quota reform. They have expanded their demands to include the resignation of several ministers and police officers, as well as the arrest of those responsible for unlawfully killing students. What began as an anti-quota protest has evolved into a national movement against corruption and injustice, advocating for freedom and democracy. It is important for the international community to take action to stop the ongoing brutality and protect Bangladeshi students and democracy from this dictatorship.
Writer Name: Sayed Anwar
Bio: Student of the Department of International Relations, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh
