Shamsuddoza Sajen

On July 14, 2024, tensions flared as hundreds of students poured out of their DU dormitories to protest a “disparaging comment” made by then–prime minister Sheikh Hasina regarding quotas in government jobs.

On July 13, 2024, the Students Against Discrimination announced a fresh set of protest programmes, shifting their strategy from blockades to processions and symbolic marches.

Despite the weekly holiday, anti-quota protesters once again blocked the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka, demanding reforms to the quota system in government jobs and condemning the police action on students the previous day.

On July 11, 2024, the anti-quota movement entered a new phase of confrontation. Ignoring police warnings and ministers’ calls to step back, thousands of protesters defied barricades and took to the streets as part of their “Bangla Blockade.”

July 10, 2024.Protesters refuse to back down.Shamsuddoza Sajen.The protests over the quota system in government jobs showed no signs of slowing down on July 10 as students across the country vowed to continue their movement despite the Supreme Court’s order for a four-week stat

The ongoing Bangla Blockade paused for a day as students leading the quota reform movement prepared for their next round of protests.

For the second consecutive day, the Bangla Blockade grips the capital, with thousands of students and jobseekers bringing traffic to a standstill at key intersections across Dhaka.

Beyond Dhaka, protesters hold the streets with equal resolve

Even on a holiday, the quota reform protests show no sign of slowing. Students across Bangladesh take to the streets, block roads, form human chains, and voice their rejection of the reinstated quota system in government jobs.

Defying the rain, they sat on the streets, waving banners and shouting slogans

The student movement against the reinstatement of the quota system in public service recruitment escalated on July 3, 2024, as demonstrations expanded beyond university campuses to major highways and key city intersections, mounting pressure on the government.

Defying rain, warnings, exhaustion, anti-quota protests gained momentum

Though protests had already begun in response to a High Court verdict reinstating quotas in government jobs, it was on July 1, 2024, that the movement for reforms to the quota system truly took shape.

On March 31, 1971, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi moved a resolution in parliament strongly criticising the military action in Bangladesh.

At 4:00am on March 30, 1971, Bangladeshi forces, comprising East Pakistan Rifles (EPR), police and civilians under the leadership of Abu Osman Chowdhury, then a major and commander of the fourth wing of EPR, attacked the Pakistan occupation army in Kushtia from three sides.

In the evening, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was flown via helicopter from the cantonment, where he was detained, to the Tejgaon Airport. Afterwards, he was flown to Karachi by a special military aircraft.

On March 28, 1971, American Consul General in Dhaka, Archer K Blood, sent a telegram to Islamabad and Washington captioned “selective genocide”. He reported that they were “mute and horrified by a reign of terror by the Pakistan military” in East Pakistan. Pointing towards various pieces of evidence, Blood suggested that Awami League supporters and Hindus were being systematically targeted by the martial law administrators.

American Consul General Archer K Blood in a situation report submitted on March 27, 1971, wrote that according to numerous accounts, including eye witness reports, the Pak military crackdown on Bangalee nationalists has been carried out throughout Dacca swiftly, efficiently (despite heavy resistance from some quarters, including pro-Awami League police and East Pak Rifles), and often with ruthless brutality.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a press statement issued today, called for a general strike throughout Bangladesh on March 27 against the army’s action in certain places in East Pakistan including Saidpur, Rangpur and Joydevpur.

There was a final meeting between Awami League’s team and Yahya’s advisers on March 24, 1971, at 6:00pm.