On July 16, 2024, a group of students from the government-aligned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) attacked student activists who were engaged in a quota reform movement protest. At least three student protesters were injured.
The student protesters, who came from Jagannath University and other local higher education institutions, were marching from campus toward Dhaka University, demanding quota reports and protesting against BCL attacks on student demonstrators. As the march reached the Rai Saheb Bazar, BCL activists attacked them, including by firing gunshots. At least three students were taken to Dhaka National Medical Institute Hospital with bullet wounds, and one source reported that a student was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack.
The violence occurred against the backdrop of the quota reform movement, a set of widespread student protests that began on the campus of the University of Dhaka, after a June 5, 2024 ruling by the High Court of Bangladesh reinstating a quota system – previously abolished in 2018 – which allocated government jobs to certain favored groups. Under the system, 30% of government positions went to people who had fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan and their family members, creating a shortage of sought-after positions for others. The protests ultimately led to the resignation of Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the establishment of a new interim government.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about violent attacks by students against other students in retaliation for their exercise of their rights to freedom of association and expression. Scholars at Risk calls on all parties to exercise restraint and to avoid violence. State authorities have the right and obligation to maintain order, which they must with due regard for the rights of protesters and others, including the rights to free expression, academic freedom, peaceful assembly, and due process.
Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/quota-reform-movement-4-jagannath-university-students-shot-900931
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/352282/3-jnu-students-shot-injured-in-quota-reform
https://bdnews24.com/campus/9aefebf56ccb