Bangladesh is currently facing a difficult situation. Students protested for their legitimate rights and demanded the reform of the quota system, opposing a 56% unjustified reserved quota. The protest was peaceful, but the government cracked down on the students. Police used rubber bullets, tear gas, and sound grenades to control the protest. The students' anger intensified, and the protest spread across the country, involving all educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and private and public universities.
On July 18th, the government shut down the internet and attacked the protesters in a horrific manner. The law enforcement agencies, including the Police, RAB, and paramilitary force BGB, were ordered to shoot and kill innocent students. Snipers were even used to target protesters. After many days of clashes and over ten days of internet shutdown, the government finally reduced the percentage of reserved quota and accepted the students' demands. However, the situation has become even more complicated.
In this protest, between 300 to 600 students were killed. This surpasses the record of violence during the period when Bangladesh was East Pakistan, ruled by West Pakistan's military-centric government. During the Pakistani period, various student protests also faced crackdowns. In the 1952 language movement protest, the Pakistani government killed 39 people; in the 1962 education protest, they killed 3 people; in the 1966 six-point movement, 11 people were killed; and in the 1969 mass uprising, 53 people were killed. A total of 106 people were killed in those protests.
The recent protest in Bangladesh has broken all previous records of violence set by the Pakistani governments. Now, students, teachers, activists, lawyers, various political parties, and the general public are demanding justice for the mass killing of students. They are also demanding an end to mass arrests and harassment, and a formal apology from the government to the students. People are also calling for the prime minister to step down. The brutality continues, and the movement has grown beyond the quota reform to become a movement for people's rights and justice.
So we are requesting to the international community to stands with Bangladeshi people.
© Sadat Mahmud
© Sadat Mahmud
