Bangladesh Unrest: Hasina Govt Blames Oppn For Violence, Forms Panel To Probe Deaths

The Bangladesh government has blamed the opposition for the violence and has formed a judicial commission to investigate the deaths

Over 150 people have been killed in the 2024 anti-quota protest in Bangladesh, which is witnessing deadly clashes between police and protesters. Protesting students are demanding a rollback of the government's job quota scheme. More than 500 people have been arrested so far in Dhaka in connection with violence, news agency AFP reported on Monday quoting police.

The protests, which have been going on for a month, escalated over the last week After Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on July 14 labelled those opposing the quota as "razakar" - a term used for those who allegedly collaborated with the Pakistani army during the 1971 war.

'Approached Court First'

Now, to quell misinformation and fake news circulating on social media and other channels of information regarding the agitation, the Bangladesh government on Sunday issued a statement providing "accurate context" of the unrest.

In a statement issued by Bangladesh's Ministery of Information noted the current anti-quota protests started after the High Court Division of the Supreme Court cancelled a 2018 government declaration which abolished all quotas for first- and second-class government jobs in Bangladesh. 

The Hasina government had already implemented addressed the demand for reform in the quota system more than five years ago. Thus, when the current protests started, the positions of the government and the protestors were not incompatible, the statement said. 

"This was further reconfirmed when the government itself moved to the highest court of the land, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court challenging the High Court ruling," the statement said.

In a recent development, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Saturday scaled back the quota system for government jobs. The top court ordered 93 per cent of the government jobs to be allocated on a merit-based system and attorney-general AM Amin Uddin said that five per cent of civil service jobs would remain reserved for children of independence war veterans and two per cent for other categories. A one per cent quota each has also been allocated for tribes, differentially abled people and sexual minorities.

"Not only that, the government, through the Attorney General’s Office, the government secured a four-week status quo order, effectively suspending the High Court ruling until the Appellate Division could hear the final appeal. The final appeal was initially scheduled for August 7, 2024. However, recognizing the urgency of the matter, the government requested an earlier date. The Supreme Court granted this request, moving the hearing to July 20, 2024," the statement said. 

The Ministery stressed that the urgency with which the government handled the legal aspects of the subject matter of the protests is further proof of the government’s sincerity in this regard. 

Hasina Govt Blames Opposition For Violence

"Additionally, for days on end, the protests continued, with full cooperation of, and security from, the government in general, and the law enforcement agencies in particular. In a significant gesture of openness, the government facilitated the delivery of protesters' memorandums not only to the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh but also to executive heads in every district across the country. Additionally, the Prime Minister, through her address to the nation, as well as the concerned ministers in her cabinet have repeatedly emphasized on dialogue to resolve any issues," it said. 

The government also accused the Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and "its extremist ally the Jamaat-E-Islami" of trying to take advantage of the student protests to enact their "own agenda" of "unconstitutional power grab through violence and terrorism" as has been "demonstrated by this particular political group amply since 2013 onwards."

"This fear came true as demonstrated in the violence perpetrated by them in the last few days, while trying to use the non-violent and non-political anti-quota protestors as a shield," it said. 

"The repeated statements from anti-quota protest leaders disowning and condemning the violence confirmed that the violence came from the vested quarter and had nothing to do with the anti-quota protests. Even the Prime Minister herself, in her address to the nation, was very clear that the government is making a clear distinction between the non-political and non-violent protests of the students and the wanton violence unleashed by the vested quarter to serve their own narrow interests," it added.

Govt Forms Panel To Probe Death In Violence

As regards the clashes between protestors, student organizations, and law enforcement agents, and the resulting loss of lives, the government has formed a judicial commission, headed by a serving High Court judge, Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman, to investigate each and every incident of death connected to the protests, the statement said. 

Hasina has also assured the nation that no one connected to these killings will escape the accountability of the justice system and declared that the government would be taking responsibility for all affected families.