Bangladeshi students announce fresh street protests After Government Snubs Ultimatum.

In a defiant move, Bangladeshi students have announced fresh street protests for Monday, following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government's disregard for their ultimatum to release detained leaders and apologize for those killed in the recent turmoil.

This month's student demonstrations against civil service job quotas ignited violent clashes that claimed at least 205 lives, including several police officers, as per an AFP tally of police and hospital records. These events mark some of the gravest unrest in Hasina's 15-year rule. However, her administration has managed to re-establish order by deploying military forces, imposing a curfew, and enforcing a nationwide internet blackout.

Students in India holding a solidarity march in Kolkata on July 25, 2024 in support of Bangladeshi students protesting against quotas in government jobs © Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP

Among the thousands arrested, at least half a dozen leaders of Students Against Discrimination, the group that initiated the protests, remain in custody. "The government is continuing to show complete and utter insensitivity to our movement," stated Abdul Kader, one of the group's coordinators. "We are calling for a protest rally across the country. We are requesting all citizens of Bangladesh to show solidarity with our demands and join in our movement."

The student group had promised to resume demonstrations if their leaders were not freed by Sunday evening. Their demands extend beyond the release of their leaders to include a public apology from Hasina for the violence, the dismissal of certain ministers, and the reopening of schools and universities shut during the unrest.

According to Prothom Alo, Bangladesh's largest daily newspaper, approximately 9,000 individuals have been detained since the upheaval began. Although troops still patrol urban centers and a nationwide curfew remains, it has been gradually relaxed since last week. The mobile internet network was also restored on Sunday, 11 days after it was cut off, signaling the government's regained confidence in controlling the situation.

The protests were triggered by the reintroduction of a quota system that reserves over half of all government jobs for specific groups, a move that has infuriated graduates amid an acute job crisis, with around 18 million young Bangladeshis unemployed according to government data. Critics argue the quota system is exploited to fill public jobs with ruling Awami League loyalists.

While the Supreme Court recently reduced the number of reserved jobs, it stopped short of meeting the protesters' demand to abolish the quotas entirely. Hasina, 76, has been in power since 2009 and secured her fourth consecutive term in January's election, which faced criticism for lacking genuine opposition. Her government has been accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to consolidate power and silence dissent, including through extrajudicial killings of opposition activists.