Tue 16 July 2024:
New Delhi: A student of the Begum Rokeya University at Rangpur in Bangladesh was killed today, a day after almost 300 students were reported to have been injured in clashes between supporters of the ruling Awami League party and those agitating over the demand to end the quota system for government jobs.
Protests continue to rage across university campuses in Bangladesh on July 16.
Students at Rajshahi, Khulna, Mymensingh and Rangpur have gathered in the hundreds on roads and railway lines, ensuing blockades. The student-led protests demand the abolition of reservations and for merit-based civil service recruitments.
Students in an anti-quota rally in Bangladesh. Photo: X/@dhruv_rathee
Sheikh Hasina’s party has dealt with the protests – her first challenge since she got power for a fourth term in polls boycotted by the opposition – with a heavy hand.
The Daily Star has quoted a Rangpur teacher who visited Rangpur Medical College Hospital where the deceased student Abu Sayeed was taken, as having said that the student’s body was “covered in shotgun pellet wounds.”
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Prothom Alo reports that on the intervening night of July 15 and 16, leaders of the Bangladesh Chhatra League – the ruling party’s student wing – led by its Rajshahi University unit president and general secretary conducted ‘searches’ armed with sticks at the campus. More members of the BCL had gathered at the Dhaka University campus, with hockey sticks and pipes, to hold a procession, it was reported.
The US has said that it is aware of the protests. In response to a question by a journalist, state department spokesperson Mathew Miller said, “So we are aware of and are monitoring reports of widespread student protests in Dhaka and around Bangladesh that have killed two (Prothom Alo noted that it did not have this information) and attacked and injured hundreds.”
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry has expressed disappointment at what is purportedly “unsubstantiated claims of at least two deaths from the ongoing student protests in Bangladesh,” according to Daily Star.
Miller added, “We condemn any violence against peaceful protesters. Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by this violence.”
Many on social media have posted images showing violence perpetrated on students.
Is this the price you pay for demanding your rights in Bangladesh?
Dhaka University students, protesting for govt job quota reform (where only 44% is merit-based), have faced brutal attacks from Chhatra League (student wing of the ruling Awami League). pic.twitter.com/mLaGu7Quri
— Mehedi Hasan Marof (@MehediMarof) July 15, 2024
A man lies down holding his head with the national flag on the ground while a group of men is about to attack a woman in front of him.
Bangladesh, Circa 15 July 2024. pic.twitter.com/Biu10XDi49
— Tamjidul Hoque🇧🇩 (@TamjidulH24v2) July 15, 2024
Horrific scenes from Dhaka University students. Protestors attacked mercilessly by the Bangladesh Chatra League. Justice: justice for their cause, justice for what has been inflicted on them.
Shame! Shame! Shame!#Bangladesh #QuotaReforms pic.twitter.com/drA63ScRD2
— Zaheer Abbas (@tweets4zabbas) July 15, 2024
-The Wire
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