Antiquota Protest

The recent protests started with students mobilizing in the beginning of July to demand an end to the quota system for government jobs. The origins of this system date back to the period when Bangladesh had to fight for its independence against the rulers and army of what was then called West Pakistan. In 1972, as the country emerged from the Liberation War, job reservations for freedom fighters were put in place to acknowledge their sacrifices.

This system was amended several times over the next decades, resulting in 30 percent of civil service jobs being reserved for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters. Another 26 percent are reserved for women, people from underdeveloped districts, indigenous communities, and those with disabilities. This means that only 44 percent of the jobs are left open to general applicants.

Civil service jobs are highly coveted in Bangladesh against the backdrop of an otherwise bleak employment scenario, with close to three million Bangladeshis jobless. As a result, the quota system has generated a groundswell of discontent and disappointment.

However, the protestors have not demanded the abolition of quotas for the marginalized and vulnerable sections of society. Considering the systemic injustices prevalent in society, these reservations are part of an affirmative action policy that promotes greater social justice, and the students do not have any qualms about them.

On the other hand, they do complain that the quota for the descendants of freedom fighters is unjust and used for political patronage. According to media reports, the actual percentage of the general population who are descendants of freedom fighters is much less than 1 percent, yet close to a third of civil service jobs have been reserved for those who are supposed to belong in this category. It is not surprising that the list of freedom fighters continues to swell even today.

Popular unrest against the quota system is not new in Bangladesh. Large-scale protests erupted in 2013 and 2018, demanding a more equitable arrangement. The student protests of 2018 were met with violence, with many instances of assault, beatings, arbitrary detention, and abductions of protesters.

Despite this, the movement forced the government to back down and announce the scrapping of quotas for the descendants of freedom fighters. The willingness of the government to follow through on this pledge was already in doubt then, and the victory was short-lived. On June 5, 2024, the High Court struck down the earlier government order, calling it illegal.

An Authoritarian State

There have long been questions about the independence of the judiciary in Bangladesh, increasingly so under the rule of Sheikh Hasina, who has served as the country’s prime minister since 2009 after a previous stint between 1996 and 2001. Critics and human rights activists have highlighted the prime minister’s authoritarian grip on the country’s judicial system, reducing it to an instrument to serve her political agenda.

Naturally, the High Court judgement ordering the reinstatement of the quotas provoked reactions from the student community that was now freshly galvanized through the independent Boishommobirodhee Chhatro Andolon (Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement). Students took to the streets in most urban areas, setting up road blockades. Dhaka, the capital city, came to a standstill.

Things changed on July 14 with a provocative speech by the prime minister that portrayed the demonstrators as “Rajakars” — a word for people who collaborated with the West Pakistan Army during the independence struggle, killing freedom fighters. This derogatory term amounts to an accusation of treachery and betrayal in a nation still grappling with the legacy of its liberation war. The ruling Awami League has sought to present many of its critics as Rajakars over the years.

Hasina’s denunciation of the protest movement further intensified the popular anger. Thousands of students broke out of Dhaka University’s dormitory gates and thronged the streets with chants that turned Hasina’s comments on their head:

Who are you? Who am I? Rajakar, Rajakar.

Who has said it? Who has said it? The autocrat, the autocrat!

The chant sought to fling Hasina’s words back in her face. Thousands of students from universities all over the country mobilized in Dhaka, Chittagong, and other cities. From Jahangirnagar, Rangpur, and Cumilla, the youth staged sit-ins on the main avenues of the capital city, which has a population in excess of twenty-two million people. High school students also joined the movement.

The government resorted to large-scale repression in order to subdue the uprising. Baton charges, tear gas, and rubber bullets were used indiscriminately. In addition, armed thugs masquerading as members of the Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League, started attacking students, including many women.

In Dhaka, the army took positions in the streets and joined the police in repressing protestors. To prevent the supporters of the movement from communicating with one another, internet connections were suspended and telephone communications disrupted. A curfew was imposed, with orders to shoot those breaking it on sight. Yet the students were not deterred.

In a bid to pacify the protestors, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh overturned the earlier High Court order on Sunday, July 21. The court ruled that 93 percent of government jobs should be allocated on a merit-based system, with 5 percent still reserved for descendants of freedom fighters and 2 percent allocated to other designated categories.

Unfortunately, the court order, while seeking to defuse the student movement, has victimized the most vulnerable sections of Bangladeshi society by denying them access to affirmative action. This has the potential to pit one section of the oppressed against another. The court has also failed to take account of the unconstitutional violations of human rights that students have endured across the country.

Sheikh Hasina’s Record

Just a few months into her latest term as prime minister, after her party won January’s parliamentary elections, opposition to Sheikh Hasina is growing stronger than ever. Bangladesh faces chronic unemployment, with two-fifths of those aged between fifteen and twenty-four years old unemployed but also not in school, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

While it was the quota system that sparked a rebellion, the underlying causes involve deeper political and economic problems. Hasina’s premiership has grown more and more intolerant of dissent, especially in her most recent term. Most opposition parties boycotted this year’s election, which was tainted by charges of vote rigging and widespread intimidation.

Hasina’s consolidation of power has involved restrictions on press freedom, judicial repression of political opponents, and the leveraging of public resources. The students have mobilized to highlight many of these issues and the regime’s overall disregard for democratic norms and human rights. Rights groups have warned about the development of virtual one-party rule by Hasina’s Awami League.

As the world’s longest-serving female head of government, Hasina has long been a darling to the outside world for having dealt skillfully with her country’s radical Islamists as well as a powerful army constantly looking for opportunities to grab power. As the favored choice of foreign and domestic capital alike, she earned accolades for a resurgent Bangladesh economy with consistent GDP growth figures of 6 percent.

However, these levels of economic growth relied upon an export-oriented garment industry that employed mostly female workers for a pittance. The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in 2013 saw 1,100 workers killed and 2,600 injured. The deadly fire in Tazreen Fashions the previous year took the lives of 112 workers and left scores injured.

The garment sector employs around 4.5 million workers. There have been multiple protests by workers for better wages and work conditions. Last November, police opened fire on a workers’ demonstration, killing one woman and injuring several others.

This is the flip side of Bangladesh’s significant role as a supplier of cheap labor power to the global value chain of ready-made garments. Nevertheless, growing private investment and export-oriented economic growth helped lift millions out of destitution and broadened access to electricity and other amenities. In 2021, the country’s per capita income briefly surpassed that of India.

Sheikh Hasina was also praised internationally for opening Bangladesh’s borders to accommodate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees escaping the 2017 military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar. However, her intolerance towards any form of domestic dissent gave rise to growing resentment.

Crisis

Meanwhile, the spillover effects of the Russia-Ukraine war had a major impact on Bangladesh’s economy, first through the growing cost of food and fuel, and second through reduced demand for ready-made garments, primarily from Europe. Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves were hit hard, leading the country to the brink of a debt crisis and forcing it to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a $4.7 billion bailout last year. Sheikh Hasina visited China in early July to secure a loan of $5 billion, but she had to cut short her visit in disappointment as Chinese officials were only willing to cough up a meager $100 million.

As the economic crisis deepened, the Bangladeshi economy was unable to absorb the shock. To make matter worse, the government had earlier borrowed indiscriminately to fund huge infrastructure projects. Loan repayments were now due, leading to severe pressure on the exchequer. As a result, public debt escalated and inflation rose to almost 10 percent by the start of 2024, one of the highest levels in decades.

Amid widespread charges of nepotism and corruption, Bangladesh’s banks have faced a severe liquidity crisis. Food inflation continues to be very high — 10.76 percent in May 2024 — impacting millions across the country. All of these factors have made the socioeconomic conditions of the country extremely fragile and created growing frustrations among the general population.

In sum, Hasina’s last fifteen years of rule brought about remarkable changes in the country’s economy, but her successes came with some very damaging costs. The Awami League, having first risen to power as the voice of the people, has ended up stifling popular opinion. The party has transformed into Hasina’s personal property, claiming a monopoly of the heritage of the Liberation War.

In this context, the student rebellion serves to promote a fair and proper evaluation of the freedom struggle. This was a struggle in which a wide range of forces participated and made sacrifices, including the Bangladeshi left, which had a strong presence. No one party can claim the exclusive right of ownership over the Liberation War.

As the grand old party of Bangladesh politics celebrates its seventy-fifth birthday, there are many reasons for it to be proud of its history. There are also many reasons to be concerned about its present-day record. Today popular power has been supplanted by the power of money and muscles, with many positions up for grabs by the wealthy, influential, and corrupt. Top party leaders are increasingly out of touch with reality, leaning more and more upon the state’s coercive apparatus to govern.

The student movement in Bangladesh has been successful in directing our attention towards these deeper anomalies in Bangladeshi politics and society. Even if the government is able to brutally repress the students, there will be no guarantees against uprisings in the future, which might be joined by other sections of society. Once again, the students of Bangladesh are showing the country the road ahead.