Bangladesh Lesson: Mishandled Protests Can Escalate into War

Statistics on the employment rate in Bangladesh mirror those of many other poor countries. Rampant unemployment is reported, with 40 percent of youth, or a fifth of the 170 million population, out of work or education (as per Reuters estimates).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is serving his fourth term in office, was expected to provide solutions for the problems affecting the people he leads. Instead, BBC World Service reported that his government reinstated a highly controversial quota system that reserves a percentage of civil service and public sector jobs for the relatives of people designated as “war heroes,” those who fought for independence against Pakistan in 1971.

The law enforcement agencies tried to quell the protesters using dubious means, such as cutting some mobile internet services. Worse, it was reported that as the telecommunications blackout isolated Bangladesh from the rest of the world, violence erupted in the following days with intensifying clashes between the protesting students and security forces. Further reports indicated that law enforcement agencies introduced even harsher crackdowns, including a total ban on all protests.

All this did not work out well as thousands of students armed with sticks and rocks clashed with armed police in Dhaka, as reported by VOA News. It led to various serious negative consequences, as reported in various international mainstream media:

1. Hundreds of student protesters stormed the headquarters of the state broadcaster, Bangladesh Television, and set it on fire, leading to a broadcast silence.
2. In Narsingdi district, student protesters stormed a jail, freed hundreds of inmates, and set it ablaze.
3. Several official websites in Bangladesh appeared to have been hacked by a group calling itself “THE R3SISTANC3.” On the Prime Minister’s Office website, a message read, “Stop Killing Students,” followed by a chilling statement in blood-red capital letters: “It’s not a protest anymore. It’s a war now.”
4. Police officers were injured.
5. The death toll continued to rise until Nahid Islam, the leader of the main protest organizer, Students Against Discrimination, told AFP, “We are suspending the shutdown protests for 48 hours. We demand that during this period the government withdraws the curfew, restores the internet, and stops targeting the student protesters.”

In light of the consequences like those mentioned above, this is no longer a protest. It is war. I echo UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk’s words in reports of deadly violence in Bangladesh that “all sides must exercise restraint & security forces must ensure that any use of force is in line with international human rights law.” The right to protest is a cornerstone of any democratic society. It is through peaceful protest that citizens can voice their grievances, seek justice, and drive social change. The actions taken against these students undermine these principles and erode the trust between the government and its citizens.

The president is not supposed to protect his government but protect the country. In the words of Amnesty International Asia, “the unlawful force used against protesters shows a callous disregard for the right to life and an abject failure by law enforcement officials to uphold their obligations under domestic and international human rights law.”