Deadly protests escalate in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Police are detaining a man at the University of Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has condemned the "murder" of protesters

(Image credit: Zabed Hasnain Chowdhury / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

published 19 July 2024

What happened

Bangladesh issued a nationwide high-security alert as clashes between students and police that have left at least 39 people dead intensify. Riot police opened fire on students with rubber bullets in the capital Dhaka on Thursday before retreating to the headquarters of state broadcaster BTV. Protesters then set fire to the building, with people trapped inside.

In a televised address on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina condemned the "murder" of protesters after tensions boiled over earlier this week. But the "violence worsened on the streets despite her appeal for calm," said The Guardian. Students are demanding an end to a quota-based system of government job allocations that critics claim unfairly benefits Hasina's supporters.

Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladesh expert at the University of Oslo, said the civil unrest has evolved into a "wider expression of discontent" with the "autocratic rule" of Hasina, who has been in power since 2009.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.