Bangladesh is amongst Asia’s fastest-growing economies.
On Sunday, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court scaled down the quota in government jobs for descendants of freedom fighters from 30 per cent to 5 per cent. The decision will hopefully restore calm in the country after nearly a month of unrest. But the Sheikh Hasina government, which has accused the Opposition of fomenting protests, cannot afford to ignore the political and economic faultlines that have widened in recent years — in particular the discontent among students, who were at the frontlines when the Awami League, led by Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, steered Bangladesh’s national movement. The government has denied allegations of using security forces indiscriminately against the protestors. Its claims are, however, belied by the mounting toll: More than 100 people have lost their lives, at least 50 of them on Friday.
While Bangladesh has had job quotas for women, residents of backward districts, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities, the reservation for families of martyrs has been contentious. Critics claim that the system gave disproportionate benefits to those close to the Awami League. In 2018, a student movement forced the government to revoke the quota. But in June, the Supreme Court reinstated the reservation, triggering protests. What started as a peaceful agitation in the country’s campuses swelled into a civil unrest in less than a week. The Hasina government’s handling of the situation aggravated matters. The PM, who has time and again made the Awami League’s leadership of Bangladesh’s freedom movement an election plank, is reported to have compared the protestor to “razakars” — a term used for collaborators with the Pakistan Army during the liberation struggle.
Bangladesh is amongst Asia’s fastest-growing economies. However, progress has not translated into jobs that meet aspirations in a country where 28 per cent of the population is in the 15-30 age group. Textile exports earn Bangladesh almost $40 billion annually. However, by all accounts, the country’s educated youth, especially university graduates, do not want to work in factories. Many enterprises are yet to recover from Covid-related disruptions. Allegations of corruption and Hasina’s autocratic ways have stoked resentments. That people from diverse sections — from underprivileged minorities to religious fundamentalists — joined the students on the streets, speaks of discontent pent up over several years. Particularly worrying from Delhi’s standpoint are reports of the presence of Islamists amongst the protestors. Anti-India sentiments are not a new feature in Bangladesh politics. But they have rarely gone beyond the margins. In the coming days and weeks, the Narendra Modi government should tap into the goodwill it enjoys with Dhaka to ensure the turmoil does not spill over into India’s Northeast.
