The protests erupted out of Bangladeshi students’ anger at a quota system for government jobs that benefited certain groups.
The video, taken this month, shows a Bangladeshi protester wearing a black T-shirt and standing on one side of an empty street. His arms are outstretched, and he is holding a stick in one hand.
The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina responded to the escalating protests by deploying ever greater force. Officials shut down the internet. Paramilitary troops were called in. A curfew was declared. Protesters were beaten, and more than 100 were killed. Late Friday, the government declared a nationwide curfew and brought the army in to restore order. On Saturday alone, the police reported that 12 people had died.
The protests erupted out of students’ anger at a quota system for public-sector jobs that benefited certain groups, including the families of war veterans. Collectively, the quotas added up to 56 per cent of all government jobs.Under the Supreme Court’s orders, Bangladesh will now reserve only 7 per cent of those posts, a move that will open up many more civil service jobs to university students, who had called for a merit-based system.
In recent decades, Bangladesh’s economy has lifted millions out of poverty on the back of a robust garment-export industry. But the coronavirus pandemic hit hard, with consumers around the world cutting back on clothing purchases and remittances from the diaspora falling. At the same time, consumers endured an inflationary burst, with food and fuel costs rising sharply.
The quota was extended in 1997 and in 2010 to include the children and then grandchildren of war veterans, leading to the perpetuation of a favoured class that many deemed unfair.
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