Due to a contentious government employment quota system, protests in Bangladesh started last month and, after a severe crackdown by the authorities, they spread throughout the country. In a few weeks, during one of the bloodiest periods of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year reign, nearly 300 people lost their lives.
The quota, which reserved one-third of government jobs for descendants of veterans of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, was rolled back by the Supreme Court on July 21.However, Sheikh Hasina's anti-protest remarks, coupled with a police crackdown and attacks on demonstrators by parties connected to the ruling Awami League, sparked a widespread movement against the Hasina administration.
Outrage was caused on August 4 when a police crackdown resulted in almost 100 deaths. Hasina was compelled to quit and leave the nation a day later.
The rage was so great that even the statues of Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman, her father and a symbol of freedom, were broken and vandalized.
The High Court overturned Prime Minister Hasina's government's 2018 decision to eliminate and reinstate the quota system.
The first demonstrations were organized by college students in response to the court's decision.
When Hasina disagreed with their demands, the students escalated their protests, citing the court proceedings. Her use of the highly offensive term "Razakar" to refer to the demonstrators was directed at those who were alleged to have worked with Pakistan's army in the 1971 liberation war.
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