Bangladesh protests: "Govt did not gauge sense of dissatisfaction," says ex-Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla

New Delhi [India], August 3 : Shedding light on the quota protests in Bangladesh which resulted in a breakout of violence across the country, former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that perhaps the government did not gauge the dissatisfaction at various levels, making it a much larger moment than it is.
The former Foreign Secretary said that the current situation in Bangladesh is the genesis of the 1971 war, and now years later, the country's students are demanding rationalisation of the quota system, which resulted in agitations. He said that the students are calling for the need to rationalize it amid high unemployment and economic difficulties in the country.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Shringla said, "Earlier this year, some sections went to court, and the high court actually cancelled the government's decision to do away with the quota systems. That, I think enraged the students and they went back into the protest mode. The government, on the other hand, says 'Look our views are not incompatible...we are with you on this issue, and that is why we have abolished the quota system and we have taken up the matter, we have appealed the decision in the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court has to pronounce the judgement on that. But in saying that perhaps the government did not gauge, in some senses the dissatisfaction at various levels that made it a much larger moment than it is. The students set out on their issues, but then it became a larger issue, and so on."
On being asked if Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina miscalculated the anger against the quota system, Shringla underscored that it is not the first time that student protests have gripped the nation.
"This is not the first time they had student protests. When I was High Commissioner in 2018, you had some fairly serious student protests. One protest was about road accidents. I think students were justified because there were a lot of traffic violations that resulted in the deaths of people, including students. The genesis of this is 1971 when they had to fight the genocide --with the Pakistani forces there, a lot of people died, and a lot of people were part of that freedom movement, and much like our own freedom fighters, Bangladesh also gave some special privileges to their Freedom Fighters. One of these was quota for jobs to them and their descendants," Shringla said.
"But 53 years down the line, the students are now saying that it has been a fairly long time, and you need to rationalize this at a time of high unemployment and economic difficulties...so in 2018, you saw agitations that were for the removal of the quota systems, the government saw the writing on the wall, and agreed to do away with the quota system, which they started implementing," he added.
He further highlighted the reasons behind the protests becoming more dreadful and said that "What actually made it more violent, and a moment that actually cost a lot of lives, and arson etc was the fact that other actors came into the game. And, from what we can now see, this is a very planned move to infiltrate the student movement, and bring in cadres by the opposition, the BNP (Bangladesh National Party) and the Jamaat-e-Islami which is like the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Islamic grouping that is pro-Pakistan, so they were the ones that supported Pakistan in 1971, and their descendants today continue with the same policy."
"And their student wing the 'Chhatra Shivir' also infiltrated this student movement. And the students, when they negotiated with the government, said that 'our protest is purely non-violent, we don't identify with any of those indulging with any of those elements which are indulging in violence and arson'," he stressed.
Shringla stated how the countrywide protests have resulted in extensive damage.
"So there is a distinction between the two, but once this movement is happening and people from behind are indulging in violence...If you see today, the damage has been extensive, they have burnt down two metro stations completely, they have burnt a four-storey building of the Bangladesh Transport Corporation, they have burned down post offices, police stations...They have gone to a place called Narsingdi, and have freed inmates...some 860 inmates have been freed, including some who were wanted for Islamic terrorism, so there were people involved in heinous crimes...so it took a dangerous turn with these anti-national elements coming into the picture," he said.
The protests in Bangladesh have erupted due to demands for reforming the quota system that reserves civil service jobs for specific groups, including descendants of 1971 war veterans. The unrest intensified after students opposed a new policy allocating government jobs to descendants of freedom fighters, leading to violence, including attacks on state television headquarters and police booths in Dhaka. The situation prompted a government curfew, school closures, and nationwide suspensions of mobile and internet services.
Following the protests that resulted in over 100 fatalities, Bangladesh's Supreme Court intervened, slashing the quota reserved for relatives of war veterans from 30 per cent to 5 per cent while allowing 93 per cent to be allocated based on merit and the remaining 2 per cent will be earmarked for members of ethnic minorities, transgender individuals, and the disabled, Al Jazeera reported, citing, local reports.