How Bangladesh’s student protests became a mass movement

Protesters block the Shahbagh intersection during a protest in Dhaka on August 4, 2024, demanding justice for the victims arrested and killed in recent violence that occurred across the country during anti-quota protests. (Photo: Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)

The protests in Bangladesh began as student-led demonstrations against government hiring rules but turned violent, leaving more than 280 people dead and sparking widespread calls for the prime minister to resign.

Here are five key dates for the protests, which pose a stark challenge to the authoritarian rule of 76-year-old Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who leads the South Asian nation of about 170 million people.

July 1: Lockdown begins

University students set up barricades and blocked roads and railway lines, demanding reform of the quota system for public sector recruitment.

They said the plan was aimed at getting loyalists of Hasina’s ruling Awami League into the civil service.

Hasina, who won a fifth term as prime minister in January in a vote without any real opposition, said the students were “wasting their time”.

– July 16: Violence intensifies –

The first recorded deaths were six people killed in clashes that came a day after protesters and pro-government supporters in Dhaka clashed violently, throwing sticks and bricks at each other.

The Hasina government ordered the closure of schools and universities across the country.

– July 18: Prime Minister rejected –

The students rejected Hasina’s olive branch, which came just a day after she called on the public to remain calm and vowed to punish every “murder” committed during the protests.

Protesters chanted “Down with the dictator” and burned the headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh TV and dozens of other government buildings.

The government imposes an internet blockade.

The clashes, which left at least 32 people dead and hundreds injured, continued in the following days despite a round-the-clock curfew and the deployment of the military.

– July 21: Supreme Court ruling –

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court, which critics say is merely a rubber stamp for Hasina’s government’s will, ruled that the decision to reintroduce job quotas was illegal.

But its ruling fell short of protesters’ demands to completely abolish job reservations for the children of “freedom fighters” in Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

– August 4: The army stands with the people –

Hundreds of thousands of protesters in Bangladesh clashed again with government supporters on Sunday, with police saying at least 14 police officers were among the 77 people killed.

However, the influential former army chief, General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, sharply criticized Hasina, calling on the government to withdraw troops from the streets and condemning the “shocking killings.”

Current Army Chief Waker-uz-Zaman previously made comments saying the armed forces “always stand on the side of the people” but did not give further details.

Leaders of the National Civil Disobedience Movement called on supporters to march to the capital, Dhaka, on Monday for a “final protest.”