Bangladesh has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. Student protests over the revival of quotas for the families of those who fought in Liberation War of 1971 quickly morphed into a violent anti-government agitation, which in turn was fuelled and exploited by other internal and external elements. This was compounded by the government’s harsh crackdown, which included shoot at sight orders and a shutdown of internet services.
In this edition of The Gist, former High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das and Intelligence and Security Analyst Shantanu Mukharji try to unravel and explain the violence which left at least 174 people dead as per official estimates, and unofficial reports quoting several times that figure.
For one, the government overreacted to the protests over quotas, which actually extended the violence and death toll, says Mukharji, an IPS officer who, apart from protecting several key diplomatic missions and overseeing security for various Prime Ministers, has also served as the National Security Adviser of Mauritius.
Explaining the genesis of the problem, Ambassador Das notes that following similar agitations in 2018, the then Awami League government had totally scrapped the quotas for the families of Freedom fighters. However, some affected families then petitioned the high court, which restored the quotas in June, sparking fresh protests.
“The government then immediately went to the Appellate Division to appeal against the revival of quotas,” which led to a July 21 decision to keep 93 per cent of government jobs open to competition. “So we have a strange agitation where the government and the agitators are on the same page. Nobody wants the quota.
“And from what I have understood, these quotas were not even utilised in the first place…only about 7-9 per cent of the jobs made available to them actually get utilised to begin with,” said Das, who has held several senior positions in the ministry of external affairs, including Secretary (East) Consul-General in New York, ambassador to Romania, Albania and Moldova, and Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
“Yet this latest court verdict doesn’t seem to have calmed the students,” notes Mukharji.
Asked whether Pakistan and China had exploited the situation to topple a clearly pro-India government led by Sheikh Hasina, Mukharji said that while obviously he had no evidence, “judging from the past activities of Pakistan’s ISI from Bangladeshi soil, we have ever reason to assume and infer that they are behind this.”
So what happens now? What can and should the government in Dhaka do to restore normalcy? Did West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s offer to provide shelter to refugees fleeing the violence in Bangladesh further muddy the waters? What can India do to help?
Watch the full interview to get the answers to these questions and more.
