Students gathered at the clocktower this past Thursday, July 18th, to show solidarity with student protesters in Bangladesh. Organized by the MUN Bangladeshi Cultural Community, participants say they are trying to spread awareness of the current situation to the international community.
Shaira, a MUN student from Bangladesh, says she wants the world to “talk about what’s happening in Bangladesh so that there’s pressure on our government to do better.”
Following the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence, a quota system gave 30% of public servant positions to ‘freedom fighters’ of the war. As the population of ‘freedom fighters’ at working age reduced, the quota was extended to their children and grandchildren. Amidst a high rate of youth unemployment in Bangladesh, protesters see this policy as unfair and that more positions should hire applicants based on merit.
In 2018, mass student protests called for reform of the quota system, which led to the government cancelling it altogether. This changed on June 5th, 2024, when a Bangladeshi Supreme Court ruling reinstated the law. On July 1st, protests began on university and college campuses.
According to Amnesty International, protests started as peaceful demonstrations when protesters faced violence from police and groups affiliated with Bangladesh’s ruling party- the Bangladesh Awami League. Violence has continued to escalate, as the police response includes the use of guns, teargas, and rubber bullets. At least 115 people have been killed.
Mahdi, a MUN Student, says that his friends back home have been participating in the protest, and at least one of them is “hospitalized and had been beaten up very badly.”
“I would rather be in Bangladesh and help the protest, but the most I can do is ask the government over here to tell our Prime Minister to stop the killing of students.”
At the time of the rally, a telecommunications blackout had left MUN students from Bangladesh with little contact with their friends and families back home. Jawad Chowdhury, a recent MUN graduate, says that’s left many MUN students from Bangladesh worried.
“There’s a lot of Bangladeshi students here at Memorial who cannot contact their family members, the internet has been completely shut down for hours now.”
Chowdhury says, “It’s important that we show support from our university and get attention on the situation in Bangladesh.” Chowdhury says that the right to protest must be protected and that in the history of Bangladesh, students have been at the forefront of the fight for progress, including the movement for Bangladeshi independence.
“Student protest and student activism has played a crucial role in the roots of forming Bangladesh, and it’s very important that we preserve that right.”
On Friday, MUN President Neil Bose released a Message of Support “to remind all members of our community of the resources available to them.” In the statement, he obliquely references the situation in Bangladesh. Bose writes that the “Internationalization Office regularly reaches out directly to students whose home countries are experiencing turmoil, most recently to Bangladeshi students.”
As of July 21st, the Bangladesh Supreme Court has ordered that much of the quota be scrapped, although not removed completely. Following a top court ruling, 93% of jobs will be filled with merit-based processing, 5% will be allocated to veterans’ descendants, and 2% will be reserved for minority groups such as ethnic minorities and those with disabilities.
Another protest in support of Bangladeshi student protests takes place tomorrow at the clocktower, July 23rd at 4:30.