On this edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we're discussing coverage of the student-led protests in Bangladesh. On August 5, after weeks of widespread protests, Bangladesh's longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country.
According to New Line, students were protesting a 30 percent quota in government jobs for the descendants of Bangladesh’s freedom fighters, who had fought during 1971 and are known to be loyal to the ruling party. The High Court of Bangladesh had reinstated the quotas in June. Students angered by high unemployment called it "discriminatory" as it "disqualified" merit-based candidates.
Over 300 people have been killed during the protests since mid-July, though many believe the death toll is much higher amid allegations of police forcing hospitals to delete death records. About 9,000 protesters have been arrested and 61,000 have been named as accused persons in cases filed by the government, many of them members and affiliates of the Bangladesh National Party, the country’s main opposition party.
Guest:
Jennifer Chowdhury, Bangladeshi-American journalist who has been reporting on South Asian and Muslim communities in the diaspora for over a decade
Resources:
News Line: In Bangladesh, a Personality Cult Gives Way After Student Protests
AlJazeera: The victory of Bangladesh’s student movement should not surprise anyone
The New Yorker: The Historical Forces Behind the Student Rebellion in Bangladesh
