On August 3, 2024, members of the Jubo League and Swechasebak League – both wings of Bangladesh’s then-ruling party, the Awami League – attacked students participating in a anti-discrimination student movement protest in Chandina upazila. Dozens of students were reported to have been injured.
The students had gathered to stage a protest march when members of the Jubo League and Swechasebak League, who were armed with guns and other weapons, began chasing them. Multiple students were shot, including two who went to the hospital in critical condition.
The violence took place 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 a violent attack on student protesters. Students and members of the public must refrain from violence, especially on campus, and respect the right to freedom of association and freedom of expression, and university authorities must take reasonable measures to ensure safe conditions for living, learning, and expression for students. In addition to harm to the immediate victims, violent attacks on students undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.
Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/national/five-students-shot-in-clash-with-bcl-in-cumilla
https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/5-shot-30-hurt-jubo-league-activists-attack-protesters-cumilla-909071