GBAHR’s Statement Condemning Violence by Law Enforcement Agencies and Ruling Party Student Thugs Against Student Protests in Bangladesh
Against the backdrop of the galloping cost of living, widening inequality, and worsening opportunities, university students in Bangladesh have been waging a peaceful movement demanding reform of quotas for public sector employment. Instead of addressing the students’ concerns through dialogue and consultation, the government has chosen a path of escalation and violence. This began with condescending and insulting remarks from the highest echelons of the ruling regime and has escalated to the use of violence by the ruling party’s cadres and various law enforcement agencies. As of 21 July Sunday, the death toll stood at 174 and thousands injured while protest leaders were demanding that the government take responsibility for them. The government has reportedly closed various educational institutions across the country, reminiscent of tactics deployed by military regimes in the past. As members of the global Bangladeshi diaspora, we are extremely concerned with the events unfolding in Bangladesh and the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the law-enforcement agencies and security forces.
We unequivocally condemn the use of violence against the students and demand immediate reform of the quota system. We also call for independent inquiries into these violent incidents, with appropriate punishment for those responsible.
Furthermore, we express our solidarity with the students in their constitutionally enshrined right to freedom of speech and to have their demands heard. All citizens of Bangladesh should have the right to express their views without fear of violence or retribution.
Finally, we urge the government to reopen all educational institutions immediately and to enter into a meaningful dialogue with the students.
The students are our future. If we brutalize and traumatize them, the future of our nation, as an independent polity and a functional republic, may never recover.
We believe the freedom fighters of 1971 would have recoiled in horror to see their name and ideology being used to suppress the current youth of Bangladesh. The youth of Bangladesh, the students of Bangladesh, and the people of Bangladesh all deserve better.
Global Bangladeshis’ Alliance for Human Rights
