Bangladeshi students are mobilizing around the world and being met with extreme and deadly police and state repression
A reported 174 student protestors were killed after Bangladesh’s border guards and police were granted orders to “shoot on sight.” Helicopters fired at unarmed students, heavily armed UN vehicles meant for “peacekeeping missions” were used against protestors, students and protestors were abducted and tortured, over 2,500 protestors were arrested, and both student protestors and bystanders were killed at the hands of state sanctioned violence.
Over the last several days, the Bangladeshi government has cut off the internet, “isolating and killing students, and suppressing their voices” (Rafid Alam, an organizer in Melbourne, Australia). People living abroad have not been able to contact their loved ones in Bangladesh.
The United Arab Emirates imprisoned over 55 people for protesting the government of their home country; three protestors are facing life sentences and the other 53 are facing ten years in prison. Those convicted will be deported to Bangladesh at the end of their sentences (Emirati News Agency).
Students were protesting over jobs, inequality, and corruption. Specifically, they were calling out Bangladesh’s quota system for civil service jobs, with 30% of government positions reserved for relatives of veterans who fought in the country’s war against Pakistan in 1971. After unhinged violence was released on students, Bangladesh’s high court rolled the quota system back to 5% (Democracy Now).
But after ten days of state sanctioned violence, the movement against Bangladesh’s government has grown worldwide.
On June 24, Al Jazeera published a new list of demands by students that was circulated in an underground press release:
The prime minister must accept responsibility for the mass killings of students and publicly apologize.
The home minister and the road, transport and bridges minister [the latter is also the secretary general of the Awami League], must resign from their [cabinet] positions and the party.
Police officers present in the sites where students were killed must be sacked.
Vice Chancellors of Dhaka, Jahangirnagar and Rajshahi universities must resign.
The police and goons who attacked the students and those who instigated the attacks must be arrested.
Families of the killed and injured must be compensated.
Bangladesh Chhatra League [BCL, the pro-government student wing, which is, effectively, the government’s vigilante force] must be banned from student politics and a student union established.
All educational institutions and halls of residences must be reopened.
Guarantees must be provided that no academic or administrative harassment of protesters will take place.
Respond Crisis Translation stands with the protestors in Bangladesh and across the world. We condemn the violence, killing and imprisonment of protestors and bystanders. We commend the students for taking action against government corruption. We stand in solidarity with the students and call on governments and international organizations to unequivocally condemn the violence perpetrated by the Bangladeshi government, and to sanction members of the BCL and the government members responsible for orchestrating the violence.
