Bangladesh student protests turn deadly as demonstrators bring nation to standstill

Analysts say the protests are a reaction to long-term oppression by what many view as an authoritarian regime, exacerbated by the inability of the government to address an ongoing economic crisis and a lack of democratic avenues for change.

“This movement has emboldened people now,” Nasiruddin Elan, a prominent activist and director of the human rights organisation Odhikar, told This Week in Asia. “It has given them an outlet, which is why it has spread rapidly across the country in the blink of an eye. The fascist regime could not have imagined this. That’s why they are now using all their power to try to suppress these students.”

On Thursday, the protesters orchestrated a nationwide shutdown that effectively brought Bangladesh to a standstill, shutting down road networks and closing off businesses, as the authorities struggle to contain the protests.

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Several students killed during protests against civil service job quotas in Bangladesh

For more than two weeks, university students have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the job quota policy, which reserves large percentages of civil service positions to descendants of “freedom fighters” – individuals who fought for the nation’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

As the protests spread from major cities to smaller districts throughout the country, their intensity has escalated. Despite forceful interventions by the police and pro-government factions, particularly the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) – the student wing of the ruling Awami League – the widespread participation in these protests has significantly disrupted daily life, bringing into sharp focus the challenges facing Bangladesh’s political landscape.

On Wednesday, students at Dhaka University staged a