The protests began in early July in Bangladesh. Initially peaceful, they turned violent after clashes with security forces left people dead. The prime minister resigned.
What’s happening in Bangladesh? This small South Asian country has been in the news for several days because of violent and deadly demonstrations. It all started at the beginning of July. Students and young graduates were demanding an end to the recruitment system in public jobs, which are a guarantee of stable employment. Indeed, in Bangladesh, the system reserves 30% of these jobs for the children of “freedom fighters”. [ceux qui ont participé à la guerre de libération du Bangladesh contre le Pakistan en 1971, NDLR]. However, according to government figures, 18 million young people are unemployed. Moreover, the protesters believe that this is a maneuver to favor the loyalists of the Awami League, the ruling party, reports franceinfo.
Protests against the system are not new. It was partially abolished in 2018, but was eventually restored in June of this year by the courts. This decision is the starting point of the protests, which were initially intended to be peaceful. This student movement led the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to temporarily suspend most of the quotas, but this decision proved insufficient for the students who are demanding the total repeal of the text.
The first deaths and the conflagration
Everything changed on July 16, when people died during the protests. This angered students, who then demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, 76 years old. A curfew was also imposed from July 19.
The social crisis has now become a political crisis, with increasingly violent acts committed by both protesters and law enforcement. According to the Bangladeshi Interior Minister, there have been fires in public buildings, police stations and the headquarters of public television. The railway network in Dhaka, the capital, is reportedly inoperable. These actions led the Prime Minister to accuse the protesters on Sunday, August 4, of being “terrorists who seek to destabilize the nation,” reports the BBC.
Repression by all means
On the side of the security forces, the clashes with the demonstrators were particularly violent. The army was even deployed on July 19, and the police fired live ammunition at the demonstrators, who were armed with sticks and knives. On Tuesday, August 6, the death toll was 409 in one month, among them demonstrators and police officers, according to an AFP report.
In order to limit communications, the government first restricted access to the internet in mid-July. It was then completely cut off on August 5. The study places, where the students behind the movement meet, have also been closed “until further notice”, the Ministry of Education announced on July 16.
International community calls for calm
Faced with the violent repression against the demonstrators, the international community has reacted. First, the NGO Amnesty International denounced, in mid-July, an “illegal” use of force “against students who are demonstrating”. On Sunday, August 4, it was the UN that spoke out, condemning “the shocking violence in Bangladesh”. In a statement, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, declared: “The government must stop targeting those who are peacefully participating in the protest movement, immediately release those arbitrarily detained [plusieurs centaines de membres de l’opposition ont été arrêtés, NDLR]restore full access to the internet and create the conditions for constructive dialogue.”
The August 5 switch
On August 4, Asif Mahmud, one of the leaders of the collective “Students Against Discrimination”, at the origin of the protest, had called for civil disobedience, which consisted in particular of no longer paying taxes or bills related to public services.
These various events led to the Prime Minister’s escape by helicopter from her palace. Indeed, anti-government protesters managed to storm it after a call for a “final demonstration” by Asif Mahmud. This day was particularly deadly. Police and doctors estimate that there were 109 deaths on this day alone.
Since then, it has been the army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, who has been communicating with the population. In a televised message, he announced the resignation of the Prime Minister. A statement that caused joy and prompted millions of Bangladeshis to celebrate and party in the streets of Dhaka, reports RFI. The general also called for calm: “The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many people have been killed. It is time to end the violence.” Waker-Uz-Zaman called for the creation of an interim government and is due to meet with student movement leaders on Tuesday, August 6, to find a new prime minister. For Nahid Islam, the leader of the student movement, has already proposed the name of Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner.