DHAKA—Protests in Bangladesh that began as student-led demonstrations against government hiring rules have spiraled into violence killing more than 280 people and sparking widespread calls for the premier to resign.
Here are five key dates spanning the protests posing a daunting challenge to the autocratic rule of 76-year-old Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, leader of the South Asian nation of about 170 million people.
Anti-Discrimination Student Movement held a rally at Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on August 3, 2024, to demand justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide violence during anti-quota protests. Student leaders rallied Bangladeshis on August 3 for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government weathered a worsening backlash over a deadly police crackdown on protesters. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
July 1: Blockades begin
University students build barricades blocking roads and railway lines to demand reforms of a quota system for sought-after public sector job hires.
They say the scheme is used to stack the civil service with loyalists of Hasina’s ruling Awami League.
Advocates shout slogans as they were stopped by security personnel inside the gate of the High Court building during a protest demanding justice for the victims arrested and killed in the recent countrywide violence in Dhaka on July 31, 2024. Bangladesh’s government called for a day of mourning on July 30 for victims of violence in nationwide unrest, but students denounced the gesture as disrespectful of classmates killed during clashes with police this month. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Hasina, who won a fifth term as prime minister in January after a vote without genuine opposition, says the students are “wasting their time”.
July 16: Violence intensifies
The first recorded deaths are six people killed in clashes, a day after bitter violence when protesters and pro-government supporters in Dhaka fought with sticks and hurled bricks at each other.
Activists walk past police personnel standing guard during a protest march demanding justice for victims arrested and killed in the recent countrywide violence in Dhaka on August 2, 2024. Demonstrations in Bangladesh after August 2 prayers demanded justice for victims of nationwide unrest and police crackdown, after the release of protest leaders failed to quell public anger. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Hasina’s government orders the nationwide closure of schools and universities.
July 18: PM rebuffed
Students reject an olive branch from Hasina, a day after she appeals for calm and vows that every “murder” in the protests would be punished.
Protesters chant “down with the dictator” and torch the headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh Television and dozens of other government buildings.
The government imposes an internet blackout.
Students take part in a protest march as they demand justice for victims arrested and killed in the recent nationwide violence over job quotas, in Dhaka on August 3, 2024. Student leaders rallied Bangladeshis on August 3 for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government weathered a worsening backlash over a deadly police crackdown on protesters. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
At least 32 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes, which continue in the following days despite a round-the-clock curfew and the deployment of soldiers.
July 21: Supreme Court verdict
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court, seen by critics as a rubber stamp for the will of Hasina’s government, rules the decision to reintroduce job quotas was illegal.
Anti-Discrimination Student Movement held a rally at Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on August 3, 2024, to demand justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide violence during anti-quota protests. Student leaders rallied Bangladeshis on August 3 for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government weathered a worsening backlash over a deadly police crackdown on protesters. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
But its verdict falls short of protester demands to entirely abolish job reservations for children of “freedom fighters” from Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war against Pakistan.
August 4: Army stands with the people
Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi protesters clash again with government supporters on Sunday. Police say at least 14 officers are among the 77 killed.
Anti-Discrimination Student Movement held a rally at Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on August 3, 2024, to demand justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide violence during anti-quota protests. Student leaders rallied Bangladeshis on August 3 for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government weathered a worsening backlash over a deadly police crackdown on protesters. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
But in a stiff rebuke to Hasina, influential ex-army chief General Ikbal Karim Bhuiyan calls on the government to withdraw troops from the streets and condemns “egregious killings”.
That followed comments by current army chief Waker-uz-Zaman, who said the armed forces “always stood by the people”, without giving more details.
Smoke rises from the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University premises after a clash between students and government supporters during a protest in Dhaka on August 4, 2024, to demand justice for the victims arrested and killed in the recent nationwide violence during anti-quota protests. The death toll from clashes on August 4 between Bangladeshi protesters demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resign and pro-government supporters has risen to at least 23, police and doctors said. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Leaders of the nationwide civil disobedience campaign call on supporters to march on the capital Dhaka on Monday for a “final protest”.
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