Protesting students in Bangladesh have called for a march to the capital Dhaka in defiance of a nationwide curfew on Monday to press prime minister Sheikh Hasina to resign, a day after deadly clashes in the South Asian country killed nearly 100 people.
The oddity here is that the specific flash point has already been solved.
There used to be a system whereby x % of government jobs were reserved for the kids and grandkids of those who had fought for independence back in the early 1970s. You know, founding fathers of the State – or more accurately, of the political party in power. This quota was actually abolished (or at least minimised to nothing important) back in 2018. The Supreme Court recently said that the abolition was illegal so back it came.
The govt certainly didn’t want it back . But, given the SC, cue riots.
Govt has abolished the quota again – or at lesat minimised it. That should be that, right?
At least 91 people were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday according to Reuters, in a wave of violence across the country, as police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters.
But it isn’t.
There are other, more generalised, complaints about liberty, democracy and all that. So, riots continue even though hte initial problem is solved.
And, well, you know? It doesn;t have to be a specific problem that can in fact be solved. That can just be the trigger – but once the mob is roused then the underlying grievances drive it.
Sound familiar at all?
When a foreign government in the Third World is handling a situation far better than their former colonisers…
They were at it in London 2 weeks ago; yet that didn’t seem to attract the same anger from the authorities as English people rioting over the murder of little white girls by an African.
Makes you think…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13651945/Bangladeshis-clash-streets-London-rioters-hurl-missiles-police-smash-cars-10-killed-anti-government-riots-Dhaka.html
Jonathan,
They’re not really a threat to the establishment here so no need for them to worry.
https://x.com/basedtorba/status/1820239845190692964?s=61&t=VX5cJ0-osgn_JSz7j-uowQ
Starmer is proving to be another “I’m proud to be a socialist” type. The formation of a force to be used specifically against “white hard right rioters” is chilling. The Old Bill, judging by their performance the other day, have been royally pissed off at having to provide tea and sarnies to Climate Change Protestors and being told to kneel before high melanin content rioters (following the example of the white UK now-Prime Minister) and are venting their collective spleens by giving the former football hooligans turned rioters a good kicking. Doubtless this will be seen as a qualification for entry into the Riot Flying Squad…
Bangladesh has certainly made a dreadful mistake in setting up a supreme court that makes efforts to impose the law, rather than the will of the government. Who knows where this could lead?
I feel they could get a few lessons in democracy and separation of powers from Germany.
BiND, Lol. Absolutely spot on.
You might know, Tim. Is there any continuity between the moslem political parties who run Bangladesh now and the moslem parties who ran the province of Bengal during the war and buggered up the response to the food shortages then? Which led to famine.
As far as I’m aware – only as far as I’m aware – no. The being the one Pakistan and then dividing for Bengali independence was the defining feature, or perhaps breakage, from that past set up.
Stirring from Guido:
“Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resinged and fled the country …
Her niece is none other than Labour MP and Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, Tulip Siddiq”
I do hope that Hasina will not add to the flow of immigrants to the UK. We have quite enough dictatorial sods here already.
Looks like she’s coming here:
https://x.com/sidhant/status/1820401937692704997