Bangladesh: New Student Protests Turn Violent

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Facts

• Demonstrators hit the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh Wednesday to protest the deaths and detainment of others who protested civil service hiring quotas earlier this month. Over 200 people have been killed and almost 10K arrested as protesters have clashed with police.^[1]
• The death toll rose on Thursday after a 31-year-old man succumbed to his injuries after suffering 56 pellet wounds in the chest and 18 in his head. His family said he was caught between police and protesters on July 18 while walking to work.^[2]
• The initial protests were over a new government job quota of 30% for descendants of veterans from the 1971 War of Independence. Following the protests, the Supreme Court lowered it to 5%, with 93% to be based on merit and 2% for ethnic minorities and disabled people.^[3]
• While there was some calm following the court ruling, protesters then demanded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government provide justice for the victims of the violent clashes with police. Hasina rejected the demands, prompting more unrest.^[4]
• On Thursday, the government also banned the Jamaat-e-Islami party, its student faction, and other wings. The party had been banned from elections since 2013 due to its opposition to secularism, but, until now, was allowed to hold protests.^[5]

Sources: ^[1]BBC News, ^[2]The Dailystar, ^[3]Verity, ^[4]Guardian and ^[5]Voice of America.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by New York Times. Lethal police crackdowns and mass arrests are oppressive tools that Sheikh Hasina has used throughout her 15 years in power. Not only did Hasina deploy her overwhelming security forces to break into homes, interrogate families, and round up tens of thousands, but her ruling party also unleashed its violent youth wing to help terrorize protesters. Hasina is perfectly fine with violence so long as it's perpetrated by her supporters.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Dhakatribune. Hasina and her party have remained in power since 2009 not through violence but through elections. Due to this fact, the opposition BNP Party, often backed by Western powers, has taken advantage of genuine student protests and turned them into riots to destabilize the country and call for new elections. Hasina is no stranger to political upheaval — given her entire family was assassinated in 1975 — so hopefully she can fight through yet another era of inorganic chaos.