‘We sought rights’: Bangladesh on edge after quota protest turns violent

Hundreds of students were injured in clashes on Monday, but they’ve refused to back down as a battle of narratives breaks out.

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Maliha Namlah was scared for her life.

She and hundreds of other students had been protesting outside the residence of the Jahangirnagar University (JU) vice chancellor on the outskirts of the country’s capital. The campus was on the boil. Earlier in the day, members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the governing Awami League party, had attacked students.

Then, as Monday evening set in, Namlah and the other protesters heard that BCL members were approaching the vice chancellor’s home again, along with armed outsiders, and the prospect of another clash loomed. So Namlah and her friends rushed into the residence, finding shelter and safety there.

The incident was one of many similar tense altercations that have played out across Bangladesh’s universities in recent days as students have protested against a recent High Court decision to reinstate a controversial quota system in government jobs.

This quota system was abolished in 2018 following widespread protests and its reinstatement has fuelled widespread anger and frustration among many young Bangladeshis seeking government jobs, who believe their chances have been hurt by the quotas.

The protests escalated dramatically late on Sunday night, with thousands of students across the country leaving their dormitories to demand the immediate elimination of quotas. On Monday, university campuses turned into battlegrounds, with heavily armed BCL activists clashing with students protesting the quota system. Hundreds of students were injured.

Namlah narrowly escaped harm during the afternoon, but later that