Amid Uneasy Calm In Bangladesh, Protesting Students Say They Won’t Back Down

An uneasy calm prevails in Bangladesh after the country’s Supreme Court, in an order issued on 21 July, scaled down quotas in government jobs from 56 per cent to just 7 per cent.

But the move has failed to placate students who had been protesting the quotas.

According to reports trickling in from the strife-torn country, the situation is still very tense. The curfew was relaxed for a few hours on 22 July afternoon under the watchful eyes of army and paramilitary soldiers, but no untoward incident was reported. 

A spokesperson of ‘Students Against Discrimination’ — the ad hoc body that has been spearheading the anti-quota protests — said that the agitation will not be called off till all its demands are met. 

The protesting students are demanding that the curfew be lifted completely from the country, army and paramilitary forces return to their barracks, all persons arrested by police be released and charges dropped against them, universities and colleges be allowed to reopen and students allowed to return to their hostels, and the resignation of those who ordered action against protesting students. 

Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Huq said that the government is open to discussions with students on their reasonable demands. The students set a 48-hour deadline, expiring 24 July noon, for the government to concede their demands. 

But the government feels that some of the demands raised by the students reinforces its belief that the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh have hijacked the anti-quota stir. 

Some of the over 500 people arrested for their alleged involvement in the violence that rocked the country include senior BNP leaders like Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and party spokesperson Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed. 

“Though the government is open to holding discussions with students over their demands, some of the demands like immediate lifting of curfew, sending army and paramilitary back to their barracks, release of all detainees and immediate reopening of all educational institutions are unjustified. We suspect the students are raising these demands at the behest of BNP and Jamaat and some outside forces who want the violence to continue,” a senior government spokesperson told Swarajya on 22 July.

Immediate lifting of the curfew, reopening of educational institutions, and withdrawing army and paramilitary forces from the streets would lead to demonstrations and more violence, feels the government. 

The Law Minister has said that the government would pass legislation reducing job quotas to just 5 per cent, in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court.

One group of protesting students have met with government interlocutors to discuss their demands. They demanded that Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamum step down for ordering police action on protesters.

The government did not immediately react to their demands, but it is unlikely to accept these demands for resignation.

Another group of students, who are on the run and are believed to be acting at the behest of the BNP-Jamaat, told some news agencies that they are planning to violate the curfew by taking out mock funeral processions. Such a move, fears the government, could lead to more violence. 

The Supreme Court ruled Sunday (21 July) that the 30 per cent job quota for the children and grandchildren of mukti joddhas (freedom fighters) be brought down to 5 per cent and the remaining 26 per cent job quota for women, people from backward districts, minorities, and physically challenged be reduced to 2 per cent.

The protesting students have welcomed the Supreme Court order, but have vowed to continue their agitation till all their demands are met. This has triggered fears that the students are now being influenced by the BNP-Jamaat, which does not want peace to return.