Bangladesh is burning over government job reservation for freedom fighters’ families. So far, 133 people have died. The talk of Razakars, the pro-Pakistan Islamist militias, is back in the national discourse 53 years after the 1971 Liberation War or Muktijuddho.
Nearly 1,000 Indian students have returned to the country from Bangladesh because of the bloodshed. More than 740 students returned to India by land while more than 200 took flights.
In July, Bangladesh’s High Court ruled to retain the 30 per cent government job quota for the children of freedom fighters in the 1971 Liberation War. Justice Khizir Hayat noted that violation of the quota system “is contemptuous”, directing the government of Bangladesh to put back in place the quota for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters, as well as continue quotas for district, women, physically challenged, tribals, minor races, and other ethnic groups. Bangladesh’s Supreme Court is likely to rule on the quota on Sunday.
An otherwise judicial decision took a grim political turn because there is a strong public perception that PM Sheikh Hasina has an iron grip on the judiciary as well.
Student activists took to the streets at Dhaka University and violent clashes erupted when they were confronted by the police and Awami League cadre. Several were shot, others stabbed, beaten with sticks or attacked with bricks and stones.
Opponents argue that the quota system is discriminatory and disproportionately benefits supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party. They want a merit-based system to replace the existing quota, which gives Hasina a dedicated cadre in government jobs to run Bangladesh.
But what really inflamed the protests was Hasina’s remarks at a public rally.
“If not the grandchildren of the freedom fighters, then who must get quota benefits? The grandchildren of the Razakars?” the Bangladeshi PM asked. “This is my question. I want to ask the people of the nation. If the protesters don’t comply, I can do nothing. They can continue their protest. If protesters damage properties or attack cops, the law will take its course. We can’t help.”
The Razakars were militias hired by the Pakistani army during the 1971 Liberation War. These were made up of pro-Pakistan Bengalis and Urdu-speaking Biharis. The Razakars were involved in the most depraved atrocities including mass killings, rapes, and torture. About 3 million people were killed in the 1971 war, making ‘Razakar’ a terrible word in the nation’s collective memory.
Besides, Bangladesh’s economic crisis makes it a fertile ground for an insurrection. Inflation is almost in double digits, growth has slowed, debt from Chinese loans is mounting and the debt-to-GDP ratio now stands at 36.4 per cent. Chinese loans have wreaked havoc in economies including Sri Lanka and a host of African countries.
PM Hasina’s recent visit to China did not go well. She had hoped for a $5 billion loan and relaxations in debt repayment. Instead, after three days of negotiations, China consented to an aid of just $137 million. Hasina, disappointed with China’s miserliness and anxious about the domestic unrest, cut her visit short by a day.
In this kind of an economic scenario, government jobs are in massive demand. They are seen as a thing of rare stability in these tumultuous times.
But Hasina is not known as someone who backs down in the face of pressure or intimidation. If the protests intensify, she may double down on the harsh counter measures.
A likely fallout of the crackdown will be fuel to already brewing anti-India feelings in Bangladesh. After Sheikh Hasina swept the 2024 general elections, a group of Bangladeshi influencers and political activists launched an “India out” campaign. They claimed that the Narendra Modi government had not just ignored its neighbour’s democratic backsliding but cynically helped Sheikh Hasina stay in power for its own self-interest.
A growing number of Bangladeshis accuse R&AW of helping Awami League rig elections and go after the seemingly pro-Jamaat, pro-ISI Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Khaleda Zia.
Bangladesh is strategically too important for India to ignore. A hostile neighbour in the east, with deep Islamist instincts seething barely beneath the surface among many groups, can quickly become a national security issue. Besides, more than two crore Bangladeshis illegally reside inside India, making them ripe conduits to stir trouble.
One of the rare foreign policy issues on which India and China quietly concur is to keep Sheikh Hasina in power. Both nations see her as key to the region’s stability and a bulwark against extremism.
The US and western powers do not agree. They see Hasina as too close to India and China and not pliable to the West. The PM recently accused western powers of a conspiracy to create a Christian nation by slicing away parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar and perhaps also eating into India’s Manipur.
Both Hasina and her foreign minister issued statements on Donald Trump’s assassination attempt, effectively mocking the US for allowing the nasty security breach.
Sections of Awami League even believe that the CIA could be fanning the current protests to destabilise the Hasina government.
India needs to watch the Bangladesh situation closely. Rumours are swirling as thick as blood on Dhaka’s streets. Following hearsay that Hasina has left the burning country for Spain, mobs tried to storm her residence, Ganabhaban.
Street justice or a coup against Sheikh Hasina will not be in India’s interest. Nor should India shut communication with her opponents. Bharat has a big stake in Bangladesh’s future.
Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.