Fresh protests in Bangladesh put pressure on government after violence kills 200

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Fresh protests against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government erupted in Bangladesh on Friday, demanding accountability after more than 200 people were killed in violent demonstrations last month, following weeks of rallies over controversial reforms to the country’s job quota system.

More than 2,000 protesters gathered in parts of the capital, Dhaka, some shouting “down with the autocrat” and demanding justice for victims. Police and dozens of students clashed in Dhaka’s Uttara district. Security officers fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse stone-throwing protesters.

In the southwestern district of Khulna, police also fired tear gas and rubber bullets, injuring 50 protesters, the Dhaka-based Daily Star reported in English. The newspaper said 50 people were injured in clashes in the northeastern district of Habiganj after a local office of the ruling Awami League party was set on fire.

In the southeastern city of Chattogram, about 1,000 protesters held a procession after Friday prayers and set fire to a roadside police station, the report said.

The student protests against the government, which show no signs of abating, began as a peaceful demonstration against the quota system for allocating government jobs but have escalated into an unprecedented challenge and rebellion against Hasina, whose 15-year rule over the country is now being tested like never before.

Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January despite a boycott by her main opponents, making the outcome all but certain even before the votes were counted.

Since the violence erupted on July 15, authorities have shut down the internet and imposed a curfew against shooting in place. Schools and universities remain closed.

Dramatic footage of deadly clashes between police and protesters has rocked Bangladesh, including the case of a six-year-old girl who was shot as she played on a rooftop while her father tried unsuccessfully to shield her.

The outcry began with students, frustrated by the lack of good jobs, demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs that they said was discriminatory. Under that system, 30 percent of such jobs were reserved for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan. They said it benefited supporters of Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, and wanted it replaced by a merit-based system.

The Supreme Court lowered the veterans’ quota to 5% but protests continued, which experts say reflects widespread anger at the government and economic discontent.

“There have been many protests in the last 15 years of the Awami League government, but none as large, long and violent as this one,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.

This time, Kugelman added, it seemed like the perfect storm — an unpopular quota system, a ferocious government response that turned deadly, pent-up anger against the state and growing economic stress for most citizens. In addition, the brutal repression, a mixture of force and some negotiation, only “inflamed the protests rather than quelled them,” Kugelman said.

The furor has also underscored the scale of economic discontent in Bangladesh, once lauded for its growth successes. Like other countries, the country has been hit by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which have driven up commodity prices. Exports have fallen, and foreign exchange reserves and remittances are drying up. There is a shortage of quality jobs for young graduates, who are increasingly seeking more stable and lucrative government jobs.

The unrest has driven many students onto the streets — and the government’s brutal response has kept them there, even as the quota system has been tightened. Groups of students, teachers and civil society members say they are now fighting for justice for those killed, while Hasina’s political opponents are demanding her resignation.

Mohammad Rakib Uddin was protesting with hundreds of other students and wearing his university uniform when bullets pierced his hip. The 18-year-old said he survived because his friends took him to hospital.

“They attacked us brutally and inhumanely… we have no weapons, no bombs, not even a stick in our hands,” he said. “By the grace of the Almighty I am alive.”

The United Nations and the United States have criticized the government’s crackdown. The government says armed opposition supporters have infiltrated the students to attack security officials and state institutions.

After weeks, the violence has died down and a semblance of normality is slowly returning. The curfew has been eased, the internet has returned, and banks and offices have reopened.

But unrest still surrounds Hasina. Her critics say the unrest is a result of her authoritarian nature and hunger for control at all costs. Rights groups blame her for using security forces and courts to suppress dissent and opposition, a charge the government denies.

Hasina, for her part, blames two main opposition parties — which have backed the students — for fueling the violence. Her government on Thursday banned one of them, the Jamaat-e-Islami party, its student wing and other affiliates.

While this could again escalate tensions, Kugelman sees no threat to Hasina’s political survival, even though she “faces unprecedented political vulnerability.”

“This could backfire on her if there are new waves of anti-government protests in the coming weeks or months,” he added.

Nur Sharmin says her family’s life has come to a standstill. Her 16-year-old daughter’s school has been closed and her 35-year-old mother is afraid to leave the house most days.

“My daughter needs a safe country to grow up in, that’s her right,” she said. “We’re not asking for much.”

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AP video journalist Al Emrun Garjon contributed to this report.