Bangladesh student protests: Why is the government facing public anger?

Bangladesh is in tumult.

This West Asian country of 170 million people has not always experienced street protests, but recent rallies have been characterized as the worst in living memory.

For weeks, thousands of college students have voiced their opposition to a limit method for government jobs.

Veterans of the nation’s 1971 liberation struggle are the subjects of a third of the open sector’s jobs.

The kids are arguing that the system is unfair, and are asking for selection based on merit.

What started as peaceful protests on college campuses has now turned into turmoil across the country.

Protest organizers claim that police and the student organization of the ruling Awami League, also known as the Bangladesh Chhatra League, have been brutally beating quiet demonstrators, causing widespread outcry.

The federal denies these claims.

Since next Monday, there have been altercations. The most fatal morning of crime since protests started this month on Thursday was when at least 25 people were killed.

At least 32 people have died in full.

Unheard of internet access has been blocked and phone services are revoked by the state.

” It’s not individuals nowadays, it seems that people from all walks of life have joined the opposition motion”, Dr Samina Luthfa, associate professor of sociology in the University of Dhaka, tells the BBC.

The rallies have taken a long time to start. Although Bangladesh has one of the world’s fastest-growing economy, experts contend that college graduates ‘ employment has not increased as a result.

Around 18 million fresh Bangladeshis are looking for employment, according to projections. Higher levels of unemployment are experienced by school alumni compared to their less educated peers.

Bangladesh has become a superpower of ready-to-wear clothes exports. The nation exports clothing worth about$ 40 billion to the world market.

The industry employs more than four million people, many of them women. However, the younger generation’s desire to succeed is never enough.

Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year law, Bangladesh has transformed itself by building new bridges, roads, businesses and perhaps a rail road in the investment Dhaka.

Its per-capita income has increased by three to ten dollars per year, and according to the World Bank, more than 25 million individuals have been rescued from hunger in the past 20 years.

However, many claim that some of this growth is just enhancing those who are close to Ms. Hasina’s Awami League.

Dr Luthfa says:” We are witnessing but little problem. particularly those who are close to the ruling group. Fraud has been persisted for a long time without being punished.

New conversations about corruption allegations against some of Ms. Hasina’s former top officials, including a former army captain, former police chief, senior revenue officers, and express selection officers, have been the focus of social media in Bangladesh.

Ms Hasina last week said she was taking action against corruption, and that it was a long-standing problem.

She claimed at the same press conference in Dhaka that she had taken legal action against a household assistant ( or peon ) after he allegedly amassed$ 34 million.

” He ca n’t move without a helicopter. How does he make so much money? I immediately took action as soon as I became aware of this”.

She did not identify the individual.

The Bangladeshi media reported that this much money could only have been obtained by lobbying for government contracts, corruption, or bribery.

Former police chief Benazir Ahmed, who was once seen as a close ally of Ms. Hasina, has been the subject of an investigation by the anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh after allegedly amassing millions of dollars through illegal means. He denies the allegations.

The country’s typical citizens who are struggling with the rising cost of living did n’t escape this news.

Many rights activists point out that over the past 15 years, there have n’t been as many opportunities for democratic activity as there are for corruption allegations.

” For three consecutive elections, there has been no credible free and fair polling process”, Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told the BBC.

Ms. Ganguly said,” [Ms. Hasina ] has perhaps underestimated the level of dissatisfaction people had with being denied the most fundamental democratic right to choose their own leader.”

The main opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ), staged elections in 2014 and 2024, protesting the results of their election boycotts, claiming that free and fair elections were impossible under Ms. Hasina and that they wanted the elections to be conducted under a neutral caretaker administration.

This demand has always been rejected by Ms. Hasina.

Rights groups also say more than 80 people, many of them government critics, have disappeared in the past 15 years, and that their families have no information on them.

In light of concerns that Sheikh Hasina has become more autocratic over the years, the government is accused of stifling dissent and the media. But ministers deny the charges.

According to Dr. Luthfa,” the anger against the government and the ruling party has been accumulating for a long time.”

” People are now expressing their anger. People use protest if they have no other options left.

Ms. Hasina’s ministers claim that despite what they perceive as provocative actions by protesters, the government has shown extreme restraint.

They claim that Islamist parties, who they claim sparked the violence, have infiltrated demonstrations and that their political opposition has led to the violence.

Anisul Huq, the government’s attorney, stated that the government was ready to discuss the issues.

The government has been contacting student protesters, the statement read. When there is a reasonable argument, we are willing to listen”, Mr Huq told the BBC earlier this week.

The student protests are probably Ms. Hasina’s biggest challenge since January 2009.

How they are resolved will depend on how she handles the unrest and, most importantly, how she addresses the public’s growing anger.