Student leader release fails to quell Bangladesh protests

Protestors rally to demand justice for victims of nationwide unrest and police crackdown – Copyright AFP/File –

Shafiqul ALAM

Demonstrations in Bangladesh after Friday prayers demanded justice for victims of nationwide unrest and police crackdown, after the release of protest leaders failed to quell public anger.

Student rallies against civil service job quotas sparked days of mayhem that killed at least 206 people last month, according to an AFP count of police and hospital data.

The violence was some of the worst of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year tenure, and the actions of her government’s security forces provoked widespread rancour at home and international criticism abroad.

A day after police freed six top members of the group which organised the initial protests, its leaders urged their compatriots to once again return to the streets.

“We want justice for the murders of our sisters and brothers,” Students Against Discrimination said in a statement.

Thousands of young men in the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong heeded the call after midday worship in the Muslim-majority nation, defying torrential monsoon rains.

“Why are our brothers in graves and the killers outside?” one crowd chanted outside the country’s largest mosque in central Dhaka, a teeming megacity of 20 million people.

Students Against Discrimination had demanded the release of its detained leaders, three of whom were forcibly checked out of a hospital and taken away by plainclothes police last week.

Their release was a sign the government was hoping to “de-escalate tensions” with protesters, University of Oslo researcher Mubashar Hasan told AFP on Thursday. 

But other demands by the students remain unmet, including a public apology from Hasina for the violence and the dismissal of several of her ministers.

They have also insisted that the government reopen schools and universities around the country, all of which were shuttered at the height of the unrest.

– ‘She must go’ –

Many protesters have gone further, demanding Hasina step down altogether.

“She must go,” writer and activist Arup Rahee told AFP from a rally in the capital. “There will be no justice for the student murders if she remains in power.”

Internet outage monitor Netblocks reported that service providers had again restricted access to Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, all used last month to organise protests.

“We were instructed by the authorities to block Facebook,” said an official from one phone company, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hasina, 76, has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Her government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Demonstrations began in early July over the reintroduction of a quota scheme — since scaled back by Bangladesh’s top court — that reserved more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.

With around 18 million young Bangladeshis out of work, according to government figures, the move upset graduates facing an acute employment crisis.

Critics say the quota system was used to stack public jobs with loyalists to the ruling Awami League.

– ‘Excessive and lethal force’ –

Last month’s protests had remained largely peaceful until attacks on demonstrators by police and pro-government student groups.

Hasina’s government eventually imposed a nationwide curfew, deployed troops and shut down the nation’s mobile internet network for 11 days to restore order. 

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell this week condemned the police clampdown that followed for “excessive and lethal force against protesters and others”, urging an independent investigation into their conduct.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters last weekend that security forces had operated with restraint but were “forced to open fire” to defend government buildings.

At least 32 children were among those killed last month, the UN childrens’ agency said Friday. 

Diplomats said Hasina’s government had approached the United Nations to assist with its own probe into the unrest but had been rebuffed.

“The UN called for an impartial, independent and transparent investigation into all alleged human rights violations,” a United Nations official told AFP on condition of anonymity. 

“The UN, however, does not support national investigations in the way that is being suggested.”