The Bangladesh Freedom and Democracy Forum (BFDF) strongly condemns the attacks and atrocities on the students’ country-wide peaceful job quota movement by the ruling party thugs and the police, in which at least 6 people were martyred in a just cause, and hundreds wounded.
The US condemned the attacks and atrocities of the security forces. Jon Danilowicz, former number two of the US Embassy in Bangladesh stated that a review of US engagement with Bangladesh’s security forces is long overdue. This is thought to be referring to the sanctions on the paramilitary elite police force, RAB, in 2021 for its extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. The United Nations expressed concern and called on the Government of Bangladesh to protect the peaceful demonstrators against any form of threat or violence. Many human rights organizations have also condemned the attacks. The opposition in general, many groups and people in the country condemned the atrocities and supported the movement. 114 distinguished citizens of Bangladesh have issued in a joint statement condemning the attacks and supporting the movement.
The storm of the students’ Quota Movement has engulfed the whole country. In 2018, the same storm engulfed the whole country, and the government was compelled to bow down and accept their demands, although only after its despicable atrocities and violence on the movement. But on 5 June this year, the government reinstated the job quota system, and the students raised the storm again. The authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina has cracked down on the movement to try and defeat the protesters.
The political situation is volatile at present. The students have continued with the movement with renewed vigour after at least 6 people were killed and hundreds injured yesterday. Prayers were held today for the martyrs in many places and the leading thugs of the ruling party’s student wing were thrown out of student’s halls in Dhaka last night by the students.
The protesters are out on the streets again today. The regime has ordered all schools, colleges and universities to be closed indefinitely until further notice. The paramilitary Bangladesh Border Guard has been deployed in many places. A list of the leaders of the movement are being drawn up by the regime, apprehensively to intern them and/or torture and kill them. The Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal (JCD), the student wing of the BNP, and the Gono Odhikar Parishad (Mashiuzzaman-Faruk) party joined the Quota Movement yesterday, the JCD above with the aim of ousting the Sheikh Hasina’s regime, which is the root cause of the on-going state terrorism, oppression, repression and reckless plunder.
Since 2009, Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian puppet regime has perpetrated 3 massacres (on BDR, Jamaat and Hefazat), indiscriminate killings, abductions, terror, tyranny, torture, oppression, repression, massive imprisonment, extortion, plunder, reckless corruption, etc. and above all, it has sold out national interest and surrendered sovereignty to India.
The people, of course, will persist in their struggle for freedom, democracy, justice, human rights, and harmonious development. This regime stole the elections of 2008, 2014, 2018 and 2024, with direct support from India, and hence is an unelected regime. It has destroyed human rights, freedom and democracy.
We call upon the opposition and all patriots to join the Quota Movement of the students, and not remain aloof with verbal support only, and heighten the movement to the required level so that the country can be rescued, by defeating fascism and hegemonism, and establishing a patriotic and democratic government.