Street protests are not new to Bangladesh or to any South Asian nation. Democracy or its assumed avatar allows for protests on any issue affecting the public. But why has this country of 170 million people suddenly turned so violent? So much so it is being described as the worst violence in living memory. At least 105 people have been killed so far and over 2,500 injured. Hundreds of security personnel were also injured. The government has imposed an unprecedented communications blackout, shutting down the internet and restricting phone services. It is shocking how peaceful protests on university campuses has transformed into a nation-wide protest and violence being unleashed on the streets.
The root of the problem is the quota system for government jobs. One third of public sector jobs are reserved for the relatives of veterans from the country’s war for independence from Pakistan in 1971. The youth feel that this reservation has carried on for too long and is discriminatory, and they are asking for recruitment based on merit. Protest coordinators say the police and the student wing of the governing Awami League – known as the Bangladesh Chhatra League – have been using brutal force against peaceful demonstrators, triggering widespread anger. The government denies these allegations and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been making provocative comments to defend the reservation. Clearly Hasina is losing popular support as people from all walks of life have joined the movement. The protests have been waiting to happen with unemployment hitting an all time high despite Bangladesh being one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Economic growth has not translated into white collar jobs for university graduates in particular. Around 18 million young Bangladeshis are looking for jobs even while university graduates face higher rates of unemployment than their less-educated peers. Ironically Bangladesh has become a powerhouse of ready-to-wear clothing exports totalling around $40 billion worth of clothing to the global market. This sector employs over four million people, many of them women. But factory jobs alone are not sufficient for the aspiring younger, highly-educated generation.
Under Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule, infrastructure development has gone up by leaps and bounds but so has corruption, especially in the inner circle of the Prime Minister’s office. Clearly infrastructure alone is not enough. Employment generation is equally important. Bangladesh’s per-capita income has tripled in the last decade and the World Bank estimates that more than 25 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the last 20 years. But the growth has been skewed and people allege large scale corruption and nepotism. These aspects have come up on social media since the democratic space for public protests in shrinking. Elections in Bangladesh have not been free and fair, particularly in this last term and people seem to have had enough of Hasina and are desirous for a change, but how?
