[🇧🇩] In Bangladesh, A Violent 'Student Revolution' is on بنگلہ دیش میں انقلاب

[Bilal9]

Gen (rtd) Iqbal Karim Bhuyan delivers a speech.

He is named in more than one of the proposed lists as provisional caretaker govt. member.

 

[Bilal9]

He is probably being considered as an alternative but I don't trust him. He is a Hasina appointee and in his watch Hasina rigged 2014 election

I thought he was rather neutral?

 

[Saif]

At least 93 dead as violence grips the country

At least 90 people, including 14 police personnel, were killed and over a thousand others injured, many with bullets, as a new wave of violence convulsed Bangladesh.

www.thedailystar.net

At least 93 dead as violence grips the country

an alleged ruling party activist chases protesters brandishing a firearm in Enayet Bazar area of Chattogram during a clash between the protesters, and police aided by ruling party men. Photo: Star

At least 93 people were killed and more than a thousand others injured, many with bullets, as a new wave of violence convulsed Bangladesh yesterday.

Ruling party activists and police clashed with anti-government protesters in at least 20 districts on the first day of the student-led non-cooperation movement designed to keep pressure on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down.

With yesterday's count, the total death toll in anti-government protests crossed 300 in just three weeks, making it the bloodiest period in the history of Bangladesh's civil movement.

A wounded protester is being carried on a rickshaw in the capital's Farmgate area. Photo:Reuters

The day began with an eerie calm, but it turned violent after supporters of the ruling Awami League descended on the streets to subdue anti-government protests.

As violence spread, an angry mob attacked a police station in the northern district of Sirajganj, beating 13 police personnel to death. Separately, at least five people died in clashes in Raiganj upazila of Sirajganj, taking the total death toll to 18 in the district, the highest tally among all.

In the capital, at least 12 people were killed. Most of them were brought dead to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

With the country already on the boil, attackers torched or vandalised the homes of some ruling party lawmakers, Awami League offices, police stations, law-enforcement vehicles, prison vans and hospital buses throughout the day, forcing the authorities to tighten a nationwide curfew and block 4G mobile internet to quell the violence.

Details of death and destruction kept coming from across the country until late last night. The death toll is likely to rise as many were hospitalised with grievous injuries, according to reports filed by The Daily Star's district correspondents. At least 70 establishments owned by individuals or the government were set on fire, according to fire service data.

Bangladesh announced the shutdown of public and private offices, including banks, for three days, while students scheduled a long march for today, setting themselves on a potential collision course with pro-government groups.

It all came as protesters whittled their demands down to just one: the resignation of Hasina and her cabinet members. Simultaneously, they started a non-cooperation movement, urging citizens not to pay taxes and migrant workers not to send remittances from abroad through banking channels.

two bullet-hit persons lie motionless on the street in Azampur of Uttara in Dhaka. Photo: Collected

The latest spell of violence was born out of job quota reform protests led by students. The protests entered a dangerous phase after at least 208 people were killed in indiscriminate firing by law enforcers, members of Border Guard Bangladesh and ruling party activists, in a spasm of violence from July 16 to August 3.

Tension in Bangladesh has been simmering since Saturday night, following AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader's announcement that the ruling party activists would be on the streets to maintain their positions against protesters.

In Dhaka, some areas felt like battlefields yesterday as police, ruling party activists and protesters engaged in three-way violence at Farmgate, Dhanmondi, Mirpur 10, Uttara, Shahbagh and Gulistan.

Hundreds of ruling party supporters wielding sticks walked down Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue towards the Karwan Bazar intersection around 12:50pm, raising fears of violence.

The road stretching from Farmgate to Bangla Motor resembled a "battlefield" as police and ruling party men fired indiscriminately on a huge crowd of protesters, who were advancing towards Farmgate with sticks in hand. They were also carrying drums and plastic traffic barriers to the protest site. At times, they threw brickbats at the police and Awami League supporters along the way.

A clash broke out between protesters and ruling party men near the Awami League office in the capital's Dhanmondi around 12:30pm when protesters from Dhanmondi-2 moved to Dhanmondi-3. Sounds of gunshots and stun grenades rang out in the area.

Most shopping malls, shops, bank branches and other establishments were closed. Public transport disappeared from the streets, forcing people to walk home or to workplaces, while long-haul buses and trains suspended their services.

In Old Dhaka, a clash between police and protesters halted proceedings at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court premises.

Over a hundred protesters, along with pro-BNP lawyers, broke a collapsible gate to the court premises, which the police had cordoned off since morning. The protesters threw brickbats at the doors and windows in the court area, witnesses said. Two prison vans and two police cars were vandalised by unidentified people as violence broke out.

The body of Rangpur district unit Swechchhasebak League member Khairul Islam Sabuj being taken to a hospital after he was killed in violence in the city's Supermarket area. Photo: Collected

The Shahbagh intersection was on edge after rival groups gathered since morning, leading to a violent clash. Both groups barged into the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University premises and engaged in another round of clashes. At least 24 vehicles were set on fire with black smoke billowing skywards.

Meanwhile, the Mirpur-10 intersection turned into a hotspot as protesters arrived in droves. AL men, some of them with firearms, had already occupied the area, backed by police. Numerous gunshots rang out, sending panic through the area.

Violence beyond Dhaka

In Laxmipur, eight people were killed and 100 others were wounded in a clash between protesters and members of Jobo League and Chhatra League, police said. Three of the victims suffered gunshots, while five were beaten dead.

In Narsingdi, at least six AL leaders were beaten to death and several others injured in a clash between AL supporters and protesters. The incident took place in front of a mosque next to the Madhabdi Municipal Building, according to KM Shahidul Islam Shohag, additional superintendent of police.

In Feni, at least eight people were killed in clashes as Awami League men attacked protesters. Several people were injured in the incident, reports our correspondent. Their identities could not be immediately confirmed.

In the northern city of Rangpur, four people died in clashes. Abdul Jalil, an official of the Rangpur Medical College and Hospital, confirmed two of the deaths.

One of the dead was identified as Haradhan Roy, president of the Parshuram Thana Awami League and councillor of Ward 4 in Rangpur city. The second man was his driver whose name could not be known.

In Sylhet, four people were shot dead and at least 25, including policemen and members of Border Guard Bangladesh, were injured in a clash. One of the deceased was identified as Taj Uddin, 43, a businessman of Dharabohor village in Sylhet's Golapganj upazila.

Meanwhile, protesters and police clashed around 12:00pm, half an hour after hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Court Point area in Sylhet city. Police fired shotguns, tear shells and stun grenades to disperse the protesters.

In Bogura, separate clashes left at least five people dead and many others injured, with 32 hospitalised.

One of them, Manirul Islam, 24, was shot dead as police opened fire on protesters after they attacked Dupchanchia Police Station. He was brought dead to a local hospital, according to a doctor. Besides, two others were brought dead to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogura.

"It seems they died of gunshot wounds. But we could not confirm it," Abdul Wadud, deputy director of the hospital, told The Daily Star. At least 32 people are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital.

In Pabna, at least three people were killed and 50 others injured during a clash between protestors and ruling party men. One person was brought dead, while two others died of their injuries at the Pabna Sadar Hospital, said its assistant director, Rafiqul Hasan.

In Munshiganj, at least three persons were killed and 20 others injured near the Super Market area.

Abu Hena Mohammad Jamal, superintendent of Munshiganj General Hospital, said two persons were brought dead and many were hospitalised with injuries. The doctors, however, could not give details on the nature of the injuries.

Police did not open fire, Munshiganj Additional Superintendent of Police Khairul Hasan said, adding that he was unaware of any casualty.

In Magura, at least four people were killed and 20 others were injured in clashes that involved protesters on one side and police and ruling party men on the other.

In Kishoreganj, at least three people, including a woman, were killed and over 100 injured in a clash between protesters and AL activists.

Witnesses reported that the AL office was vandalised and set on fire during the conflict. Subsequently, the protesters blocked the road for three hours.

In Cumilla's Debidwar upazila, three persons were killed and several others were injured in a clash. One of them was Md Rubel, 33, who was rushed to a local hospital with a head injury, where a doctor declared him dead.

The clash started as AL supporters attacked protesters with sharp weapons in the New Market area in Debidwar upazila.

In Chattogram, at least 172 people have been admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, after they were wounded with bullets in a clash between protesters, police and AL activists.

In Khulna, unidentified people torched the Khulna Zilla parishad office.

In Faridpur, the district Awami League office was vandalised, while a BCL office was torched allegedly by protesters. The protesters also set fire to 10 motorcycles in front of the district AL office in the town. Besides, police fired rubber bullets, sound grenades and teargas shells when the Kotwali Police Station was attacked.​

 

[Saif]

'March to Dhaka' programme tomorrow

The anti-discrimination student movement has announced a “March to Dhaka” programme tomorrow (Monday) to press home for their one-point demand: the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina-led government

www.thedailystar.net

'March to Dhaka' programme tomorrow
Announces Anti-Discrimination Student Movement; initially, it was scheduled for Tuesday

Photo: Anisur Rahman/Star

The anti-discrimination student movement has announced a "March to Dhaka" programme tomorrow (Monday) to press home for their one-point demand: the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina-led government.

They called upon students and people across the country to join the march to Dhaka.

Three coordinators of the movement -- Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, and Abu Baker Majumder -- confirmed their fresh programme to The Daily Star.

Initially, the "March to Dhaka" was scheduled for Tuesday. However, later in the day, the march was rescheduled for Monday.

The protest organisers said the date was changed due to the deaths of numerous people and the current situation.​

 

[Saif]

Army urges all to comply with curfew rules

The Bangladesh Army has urged all to comply with the rules of curfew that has been extended for an indefinite period yesterday. It also sought everyone’s cooperation in this regard

www.thedailystar.net

Army urges all to comply with curfew rules

Photo: Amran Hossain/Star

The Bangladesh Army has urged all to comply with the rules of curfew that has been extended for an indefinite period yesterday. It also sought everyone's cooperation in this regard.

The government yesterday took the decision which will apply to the capital and all other divisional cities, city corporations, district and upazila headquarters.

The curfew came into effect at 6:00pm yesterday.

According to a statement signed by Inter-Service Public Relations Director Lt Col Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury, the army will play its role as mandated by the constitution and laws in ensuring the security of the people and protection of the important state infrastructures.

"The curfew has been imposed for an indefinite period considering the deterioration of the country's overall law and order," said ISPR statement yesterday.​

 

[Saif]

Holding to account the perpetrators of crimes against protesters

The July massacre has brought the credibility of this regime into question.

www.thedailystar.net

Holding to account the perpetrators of crimes against protesters

Wanton violence committed by the law enforcers on unarmed young protestors triggered outrage. FILE PHOTO: AMRAN HOSSAIN

"It was the henchmen of the ruling party and the law enforcement who committed the crimes, but we (the students) are the ones who are being picked up." — Tasneem Tanha, a protester.

The above statement succinctly captures the feeling of student protestors about the role of law enforcement agencies in committing the infamous July massacre, and what was then done in its aftermath. While electronic media lost no time in repeating the government's carefully crafted narrative to divert people's attention from mindless killings to the damaging of state properties and the much-coveted symbols of development of the ruling regime, leading dailies were able to deliver updates and analysis on grievous state crimes unleashed on them.

It was only after the withdrawal of restrictions on internet services that the extent and magnitude of such wrongdoings began to unravel. Graphic video footage of wanton violence committed by the law enforcers on unarmed young protestors triggered outrage. The display of the government's might through use of armoured personnel carriers and helicopters, new kits in the arsenal of "law enforcement," further added to the trauma of the people. For the citizenry, by now habituated with social media offering them real time information and alternative perspectives, the internet blockade was stifling.

The number of those killed, injured or abducted by law enforcement grew with each passing day. The number of dead and maimed patients in the medical facilities began to swell. Some facilities (including renowned ones) refused to admit patients with gunshot wounds for fear of reprisal from the authorities. There are also allegations that law enforcers seized death registers from public hospitals. The families' inability to track their lost members further contributed to the tense situation. Reports of police engaging in extortion from families of those detained caused further fury.

The move to diffuse the quota movement through the Appellate Division verdict failed to assuage the agitating students. By then, the situation deteriorated sharply as incidents of killing, involuntary disappearance, and incarceration of protestors became rampant. The abuse of those while under arrest and in detention, particularly the female students, further incensed the people. All these prompted the protestors to make additional demands including that of accountability.

The curfew and the imposition of restrictions on assembly had very little impact on the students. The unprecedented participation of private university students, otherwise perceived as privileged, provided it a fresh stimulus. The agitating students were able to garner the support of not only their peers, parents, and loved ones, but also that of ordinary working people who were appalled by the brutality unleashed on the protesters. The reckless statements of the senior-most functionaries of the government and the intellectuals who support their narrative—who have continued to blame the nebulous "third party" for "the violence"—have hardly resonated with ordinary citizens.

Figures from Prothom Alo inform that until August 1, at least 212 persons were killed in the July mayhem. An analysis of 175 cases reveals that more than 91 percent of the fatalities were caused by firearms (78 percent killed by lethal weapons and 13 percent by shotguns. The other nine percent succumbed to beating, arson or drowned). It also establishes that around 71 percent of the 175 killed were under the age of 29, 17 percent were between 30 and 39 and the rest were above 40.

So far, through their collective leadership and creative and methodical planning, the Students' Movement against Discrimination has been able to maintain the momentum. Even in the absence of the top leadership who remained wrongfully detained for about a week in the Detective Branch office in Dhaka, events such as "march for justice" and "rally of defiance," initiated by a different group of coordinators, became hugely popular. Despite on-the-spot rounding up of protestors and attempts of disruption by the baton wielding police force, university teachers, lawyers, cultural activists, and people of all strata, including the garments workers, have joined the students and extended their support for the demand of accountability and justice.

As this movement scales new heights with each passing day amid spontaneous support of the people, the government's ploy to hide behind the "third party" theory has failed to harvest any takers. The huge success of the red e-poster movement expressing solidarity with the protestors on social media on the very day that the government declared as a day of mourning is a testimony of the volume of support that the protestors enjoy over the beleaguered regime.

The July massacre has brought the credibility of this regime into question. While there is overpowering evidence, corroborated by Amnesty International, that Abu Sayeed of Begum Rokeya University was sprayed with pellets fired by the police, the police in the first information report (FIR) claimed that he died of bullets fired and brickbats flung by the protesters, and a 16-year-old had been blamed for the act. Completely denying the responsibility for shooting unarmed protesters, the government now maintains that the law enforcement agencies did not resort to firearms as they were not granted the permission to do so. This is an egregious distortion of facts.

On July 20, the general secretary of the Awami League, also a minister, while announcing the decision to impose nationwide curfew and deploy armed forces after a meeting with 14-party alliance members, categorically stated that "shoot-on-sight" order has been issued. The state minister in charge of information is on record boasting that the government had five-year supplies of bullets to quell the protest.

Such blatant misrepresentation of facts by the government makes it imperative that a thorough, credible and transparent investigation into the crimes committed by government forces, including killings, injuries, torture and abductions, and denial of the rights to express, assemble and pursue artistic freedom by the citizens, be conducted by an independent body. The youth of Bangladesh—along with ordinary masses—strive, aspire, and have remained on the streets to hold the rulers to account. Surely history will not disappoint them.

Dr CR Abrar is an academic with an interest in human rights issues.​

 

[Saif]

Violence against students: A tribute to our little John Hampdens

Students who were shot dead and injured were simply exercising their democratic rights and posed no threat to anybody.

www.thedailystar.net

Violence against students: A tribute to our little John Hampdens

In a climate of cowardice and sycophancy, protesting students' exemplary courage and bravery have given Bangladesh a renewed patriotism and a glowing confidence in the country's future. File photo: Anisur Rahman

On July 23, 2024, a police officer kicked a teenager named Muhammad Fahir and mistreated an adult at UK's Manchester airport. The incident caused shock and horror in British society and around the world and provoked protests in Greater Manchester. The police officer involved has been suspended and is under investigation.

Remarkably, around the same time, law enforcers—who are paid by our money—killed in broad daylight hundreds of unarmed protesters, mostly students, in the streets of our beloved Bangladesh. According to a July 26, 2024 report in the Prothom Alo, at least 204 people were killed during this spate of violence alone. Since there is an alleged attempt to suppress the records of the carnage, we may not know the true number of casualties. Perhaps, such massive shootings and killings in the streets of Bangladesh are unprecedented.

While many protesting students are succumbing to injuries, hundreds of them are lying in excruciating pain in hospitals with various degrees of bullet wounds. Fearing arrest by the police, many more chose not to receive treatment in hospitals and are suffering in silence. Many are staying under self-imposed house arrest to avoid police harassment in the streets. As Bangladesh is a country of roughly 170 million people, here we are talking about the ordeals of millions of students.
Is there no responsibility for all these killings, injuries, and sufferings? No compassion for the tears of bereaved parents who had pinned so much hope on their now-murdered children?

Many in Bangladesh seem to have been processing the tragedy of the mass slaughter of students in dead silence. But what does it tell us about our status as human beings and about the value of our lives as Bangladeshis? I am talking about the lives of all Bangladeshis irrespective of their political complexion or partisan preferences. I repeat: here I am concerned with the lives of all Bangladeshis, including those who murdered our students in the streets.

Gruesome and unbearable shoot-to-kill images have continued to emerge. What transpires through a cursory look at social media sites is that students have been killed and maimed like birds. These students have parents and siblings; they are sons and daughters of Bangladesh society and are the future of the country. Attacks on them are attacks on the entire population.

As regards the Manchester airport incident, race was most probably an important factor that incited the violent behaviour of the police officer concerned. But why did our law enforcers kill our young people in such large numbers? It's not race hatred or political differences that have snatched away so many precious lives from us. It is the reduced value of our lives that made this possible.

Our lives are cheap. When we degrade and mistreat each other, we do so at our own peril. The oppressor and the oppressed among us all are lesser human beings. This realisation and efforts to address it will mark the beginning of our collective healing.

The normalisation of government-sponsored violence points to the sad truth that our lives are cheap. Bangladeshis can be harassed and killed, and the perpetrators face no consequences. Only a select few at the top of the government enjoy Brahmanical privileges, while the rest are pawns or hostages in an undemocratic system.

Students who were shot dead and injured were simply exercising their democratic rights and posed no threat to anybody. What took them to the streets tells volumes about present-day Bangladesh.

The phrase "the tip of the iceberg" is perhaps overused. But it serves to emphasise the magnitude of specific problems. The quota issue is only on the surface and only the tip of the iceberg. There are long, under-the-surface stories that have to be told to explain what gave the students such courage and brought them face-to-face with violence from law enforcement and ruling party men. They have defied the fear of death. On this issue, Bangladesh seems to have been in a war between two camps: the law enforcers and ruling party people on one side, and the general students on the other.

Meritorious students of underprivileged backgrounds from rural areas study at public universities with much hope and aspiration for a better life. Those who have graduated in the last couple of decades or are currently studying at Bangladesh's universities, mostly the public ones, are cognisant of the suffering to which they have been vulnerable at the hands of so-called student leaders (known as "cadres" in campus parlance). The way ordinary students are mistreated at many of Bangladesh's universities may reveal a pattern reminiscent of the master-slave relationship.

We do not discuss it enough, but we know what happens especially in the campus and dormitories at most universities in Bangladesh. You may not find many Bangladeshi university students/graduates who have not experienced or heard of the beatings of ordinary students by the "cadres" at universities. What is more, sexual harassment of female students at universities is common knowledge in present-day Bangladesh.

University students in Bangladesh have been enduring all forms of mistreatment; many had hoped that upon graduation they would get government jobs. The quota system hammered the last nail in the coffin of that aspiration for a better future. Seeing no other options, like Thomas Gray's "village-Hampden … with dauntless breast," students in Bangladesh are rising up against tyranny in their land. In a climate of cowardice and sycophancy, their exemplary courage and bravery and their faith in themselves and one another have given Bangladesh a renewed patriotism and a glowing confidence in the country's future.

The government has been trying to contain students through bullets, blood and poison gas, but the number of John Hampdens is perhaps too many for it to suppress. Meanwhile, forces beyond our control have continued to whittle down our country to its bones.

Md Mahmudul Hasan, PhD, is professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, International Islamic University Malaysia.​

 

[Saif]

We must step back from the precipice

If the ruling party leaders don’t understand or pretend not to understand why students are not staying back at home (their campuses and dormitories remain shuttered), we are in much deeper trouble than one could imagine

www.thedailystar.net

We must step back from the precipice

A protester holding a placard that states, 'Merit behind bars while the killers roam free.' PHOTO: Rashed Shumon

Awami League leaders including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina plaintively ask, "All job quota demands have been met; why, then, are the students protesting?" If the ruling party leaders don't understand or pretend not to understand why students are not staying back at home (their campuses and dormitories remain shuttered), we are in much deeper trouble than one could imagine. We are already at the precipice.

July 2024 will surely be marked as the blood-drenched July and will find its place in history with other milestones of student movement, such as 1952 (Language Movement), 1969 (Mass Uprising), and 1990 (anti-Ershad movement), which turned the tide of history.

The question frequently raised is how a demand for quota reform in government job recruitment by university students in Dhaka has been allowed to spread nationwide and to turn into a bloodbath. The common answer is that the regime has totally failed to sense the public pulse. Incompetence, arrogance, and mockery of protesters by supposedly responsible people were combined with a belief that it would be controlled by applying force and by unleashing the student arm of the ruling party. They failed to realise the depth of grief and pain of the people when Abu Sayed of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur was gunned down by police on July 16, at close range and in public view, as he stood alone with a stick in hand. The government failed to realise that it was fast going out of hand. It failed to sit back, take stock and change its game plan.

The regime failed to see that the movement wasn't just about quotas, and the longer it continued, it conflated and merged into all the grievances and pains of the people.

Corruption and cronyism affected every citizen who came in contact with any government agency; obscene amassing of wealth by those favoured by the regime reached a new height; and the daily struggle of families to make ends meet in the face of inflation and price hikes of daily necessities was aggravated by syndicates of hoarders and extortionists nurtured and tolerated by the authorities.

They did not feel the people's pain and grief caused by more than 200 deaths of students and citizens of all ages, including children, some of whom were killed and injured in the safety of their homes by firing from helicopters roaming over residential neighbourhoods, according to the victim families' accounts.

It is very difficult to understand why student coordinators of the protest were not reached out early, in order to come to an understanding about the outcome and about a process to be followed, including handling the judicial process. The public does not understand why and how the police, Rab and border forces called in to the cities became so reckless and vengeful as to aim at the protesters' eyes and heads using not just rubber bullets, but also shotgun ammunitions and lethal bullets. In the fray, they themselves suffered attacks and loss of life. Have the rules of engagement, operational procedures and command and control broken down completely, or has this been part of the plan to subdue protest by terrorising the protesters and citizens?

The usual playbook of large-scale arrests casting a wide net and alleging vague criminal acts, picking up the people at the dead of night, not informing families of the whereabouts of those picked up, not allowing families to visit those in custody—all illegal under our constitution and laws—have continued. The regime's game plan does not require that the charges are properly framed and allegations are proven in the court. The hapless people taken into custody under any excuse would suffer harassment, physical abuse, long incarceration, material loss and mental agony, no matter what verdict the slow process of justice eventually hands down. And none are held answerable for this cruel travesty.

Considering past experiences, it is difficult to have any faith in government enquiries and the possibility of real perpetrators being punished. As the sister of 19- year -old Mahmudur Rahman Shoikot of Nurjahan Road in Mohammadpur, shot in the head as he was looking for his injured friend, asked, "Police killed my brother; should we go to them for justice?"

Students have now called for a non-cooperation movement. It is a deep expression of their frustrations. As of this writing, the prime minister has said the doors of Gono Bhaban are open to students. She has been holding meetings with university heads. These are moves that should have come much earlier.

There is no reason why the prime minister should not declare the acceptance of the nine-point demand of the students for accountability and justice regarding the government's handling of the quota reform movement and the deaths and injuries, restoring academic peace on campuses, and allowing legitimate channels of expressing students' views and complaints through elected student unions.

There is no reason why the prime minister cannot offer an unconditional apology for the mayhem caused, lives lost and how the situation has been handled by her government, despite whatever blame can be apportioned to opportunist mischief-makers.

The prime minister should demonstrate her bona fides by offering full cooperation to the Eminent Citizens' Enquiry Commission headed by Justice MA Matin and Sultana Kamal, and vow to give due consideration to its findings and recommendations.

The prime minister should ask the ministers involved in aspects of the quota reform movement to accept their share of the responsibility. Officials of law enforcement agencies need to be placed on suspension pending appropriate investigation. A process should begin to bring those respected for academic feat and personal integrity into university management.

As a gesture of good faith, the prime minister should pledge to negotiate with the UAE authorities about deporting back to Bangladesh the 57 Bangladeshis who have been sentenced to prison for holding a rally in the UAE supporting the students' movement.

The words, actions and gestures must reflect a good faith effort, signal a change of plans and strategies, and a change of heart and mind. And a willingness and openness should be demonstrated to consult and dialogue with all about overcoming the hurdles to build a just and democratic society.

No sane person can believe or declare that it is too late.

Dr Manzoor Ahmed is professor emeritus at BRAC University, chair of Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN), and adviser to Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE). Views expressed in this article are the author's own.​