Schools and colleges across
the country have been shut down.
Bangladesh's government has
suspended mobile internet services.
"If freedom fighters'
grandchildren don't deserve it,
do the oppressors and their
grandchildren deserve it?"
Such low-level arguments
do not suit a Prime Minister.
Bangladesh's Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina
is now being called a
dictator by the protestors.
Hello, friends!
Last month, in Bangladesh,
a large number of students
protested on the streets.
Initially, the protests
were peaceful,
but now the situation has
taken a scary and violent turn.
A military curfew has now
been declared in Bangladesh.
"Troops on the streets,
a strict curfew,
a near blackout
of communication."
Schools and colleges across
the country have been shut down.
And the government of Bangladesh
has suspended
mobile internet services.
In these violent clashes,
at least 150 people have been
k!lled and thousands are injured.
The protesters are now calling Bangladesh's
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a dictator.
What is the reason
behind all this?
Let's understand this
situation in detail in this video.
The reason behind these
protests is Reservation.
The youth of
Bangladesh is protesting
against the quota
system of the government.
According to the quota system,
56% of jobs in the public
sector of Bangladesh
are reserved for different
sections of society.
This means that only 44% of jobs
are available on
the basis of merit.
This system is quite
different from India's
because majority reservation
is not based on caste
but on the freedom fighters.
To understand this better,
we have to go into
Bangladesh's history.
Before independence,
as you know,
Bangladesh was
a part of Pakistan.
At that time, it was
called East Pakistan.
And today's Pakistan
was called West Pakistan.
At that time, there was rampant social
discrimination against East Pakistan.
Majority of people spoke Bengali
and only less than
10% of them spoke Urdu.
But still, West Pakistan
imposed the Urdu
language on East Pakistan.
Apart from this, there was
economic discrimination.
59% of the country's exports
came from East Pakistan,
but only 25% of the industrial
investments went to East Pakistan.
In November 1970,
when Cyclone Bhola hit,
an estimated 300,000
people d!ed in East Pakistan.
One of the deadliest tropical
cyclones in the last century.
"In 1970,
a massive storm swept
into the Bay of Bengal,
drowning 500,000 people.
It was one of the worst
natural disasters anywhere."
But West Pakistan
didn't make much effort
to provide relief
to the people here.
Not only that, there was
political discrimination as well.
In the 1970 elections,
East Pakistan had 162 seats
and West Pakistan had 138 seats.
People in West Pakistan
voted for different political parties
but in East Pakistan,
the overwhelming majority of
votes went to Awami League Party,
which was being led by
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
As a result of this election
the Awami League was supposed to
govern both East and West Pakistan.
But the military of West
Pakistan did not want this at all.
Back then, Pakistani
military's Commander-in-Chief
Yahya Khan refused to
accept the election result.
Martial law was
imposed on East Pakistan
and in response,
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
began a civil disobedience
movement in protest.
"Our struggle,
is for our Independence."
At the same time,
West Pakistan's military
committed large-scale atrocities
against the people of East Pakistan.
Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman was arrested
and hundreds of thousands
of people were k!lled.
There was a gen0cide
in East Pakistan.
About 10 million people
had to take refuge in India.
Approximately 50% of the
population of East Pakistan
was internally displaced
because of this.
It was only after this that
we saw the Bangladesh
Liberation War of 1971.
This was the war
where India helped
Bangladesh get freedom
under the Prime
Ministership of Indira Gandhi.
"Mujibur Rahman, the
leader of East Pakistan,
declared the region an
independent republic,
which he said will
be called Bangladesh,
the land of the Bengalis."
The people who fought for
freedom in East Pakistan,
which made Bangladesh
an independent country,
were the freedom fighters.
These freedom fighters
are relevant in the
current situation
because of this quota system.
Because, friends, in
Bangladesh's quota system,
30% of jobs are reserved
for the descendants
of freedom fighters.
Apart from this, there are
some other reservations
like 10% for women,
10% Zila Quota for
backward districts,
5% reservation for
ethnic minorities,
and 1% reservation is for
people with
physical disabilities.
If you add up these numbers,
it becomes a total
of 56% reservation.
But the majority
share of this 56%
is the 30% quota
for freedom fighters.
Look at this article.
A 3rd year student of 3rd studying
International Relations at Dhaka University,
Fahim Farooqui,
who is also a protester,
claims that this protest is basically
for the reformation of the quota system.
Protesters demand that
other than the reservation for ethnic
minorities and physical disabilities,
the government should
remove all other reservations.
This reservation for freedom
fighters is the very interesting
one because it began in 1972,
just a year after independence.
Their Ministry of
Cabinet Services
issued an order that year
to create a quota
for Freedom Fighters.
Those who risked their lives,
those who fought for their
country's independence,
30% jobs should
be reserved for them.
It should be noted that
this was applicable only
for the Freedom Fighters.
Later, in 1997,
this quota was extended to
the children of freedom fighters.
And in 2010, it was said that
this quota should be extended to the
grandchildren of freedom fighters too.
Although the exact
quota for other categories
kept changing over the years,
in the end, the total
percentage reached 56%.
After the decision to
include grandchildren in 2010,
there was a big movement
in Bangladesh during 2012-13,
against this quota system.
Just like India's UPSC,
the exam for Union
Public Service Commission,
similarly, there is BPSC
exam in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Public
Service Commission.
Every year, around
400,000 graduates
compete for 3,000 civil
service jobs in Bangladesh.
It's a dire situation
with the severe
shortage of jobs.
In February 2018,
the Bangladesh's General
Students' Rights Conservation Council,
demanded reforms in
Bangladesh Government Services.
Even then, there were clashes
between the students who
were against it and
those who were pro-quota.
And under this pressure, in October
2018, Bangladesh's government,
issued a circular that
the quota system will be removed
for first and second-class jobs.
The matter would
have ended here,
but in 2021,
7 students from
Freedom Fighters' families
filed a petition in the High Court
against the removal of this quota system.
And on 5th June,
2024, that is, last month,
the High Court decided that
the petitioners'
agruments were valid.
The government circular
was declared illegal
and the quota system
was reintroduced.
This was the reason why protests
rekindled all over the country.
The protesting students claim
that this quota is unconstitutional.
Nowhere in the original
constitution was it written that
the future generations of freedom
fighters would have reservations for jobs.
And anyway, does
it make any sense?
It is understandable to give a
reservation to freedom fighters
because they fought
for the country's freedom.
But extending the reservation to
their grandchildren simply because
their grandparents
were freedom fighters.
But the matter
does not end here.
There have been allegations of
corruption in the guise of reservation.
Actually, who will decide
whether someone was
a freedom fighter or not?
The government has kept
this responsibility with itself.
The government will decide
who was a freedom fighter.
For the past 15 years, the ruling
party in Bangladesh has been,
the Awami League, with Sheikh
Hasina as the Prime Minister.
This is the same political party
that fought for
Bangladesh's independence.
The protesters claim that
the reservation for
the freedom fighters
disproportionately benefits
the people of the Awami League.
The names of the freedom fighters
who have been included in the list,
at least 60,000 objections have
been raised against those names.
And these objections have not
been resolved by the government.
On July 10, this matter
reached the Supreme Court
the government approached the Supreme Court
to appeal against the High Court's order.
The Supreme Court imposed a
stay on the High Court's order,
but the protests didn't stop.
Apart from students
and teachers,
opposition parties
of Bangladesh join in.
Like the Bangladesh
Nationalist Party.
To confront the protesters,
more than 7,000 paramilitary
troops were called.
Police use tear gas, rubber
bullets, and sound grenades.
The United Nations Secretary-General
issued a statement that
the government should refrain from using
threats or violence against the protestors.
Apart from this,
there were clashes between the protesters
and the Bangladesh's Student League,
which is the student wing
of the Awami League Party.
Both sides blame each other.
The Law Minister of
the government said that
the government is willing
to talk with the protesters.
They claim that they are trying to get
an early hearing in the Supreme Court
so that the final order could
be passed as soon as possible.
Students raise slogans
outside Dhaka University
that we won't let their
brothers' blood go to waste.
Under pressure, the government
formed a Judicial Probe Committee
to investigate the
incidents of violence.
The General Secretary of
the Awami League says that
the government will not
interfere in the quotas.
And everyone should wait for
the Supreme Court's decision.
But the main
group of protesters,
Students Against Discrimination,
doubts the
government's intentions.
They say that the Prime
Minister did not say anything
about the mu₹ders committed
by her party's activists.
Amidst this tense situation,
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
gave some irresponsible remarks.
She twisted the facts and asks
why do the protesters
hate the freedom fighters?
If the grandchildren of the freedom fighters
do not get the reservation benefits,
will the grandchildren of the
'Razakars' be given benefits?
Not only Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina,
but also her Social
Welfare Minister Dipu Moni
and State Minister of Information and
Broadcasting, Muhammad Ali Arafat,
made similar statements
about Razakars.
What does Razakar mean?
Friends, 'Razakar'
is a Persian word
which means volunteer or helper.
But in the war of 1971,
Razakar Bahini was
a paramilitary group
which was supporting
the army of West Pakistan.
On the other hand
was Mukti Bahini
fighting for the
freedom of Bangladesh.
In this Razakar Bahini, there
were about 50,000 people who
supported the West Pakistan army
and in the atrocities committed
against the people of East Pakistan
they encouraged them
and even took part in them.
In 1973, when Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman's government was formed,
he introduced the
International Crimes Tribunal Act
to find and punish
these Razakars.
Anthropologist Nayanika
Mukherjee notes that
around 37,000
volunteers were identified.
Around 26,000 of them were
pardoned by the government
and the remaining were punished.
They were imprisoned
or their trial is still going on.
Some trials were so
long that even in 2022,
6 members of the Razakar
Bahini were sentenced to de@th
for crimes against humanity.
So, friends, by now, you can
understand the points raised.
In Bangladesh, the word 'Razakar'
means treacherous and anti-national.
And if someone is protesting against the
government because of this reservation,
does it make sense
to call them a traitor?
No, it doesn't.
It's the same old strategy where
if the government doesn't
like people criticising them,
then they are
declared a traitor.
But the truth is,
as American author and activist
Edward Abbey had written,
"a patriot must be ready to defend
his country against his government."
A true patriot
defends his country
even from his government.
Democracy doesn't only mean that
you go to vote
once every 5 years.
Democracy is a dynamic system
where people should
be politically aware.
People should continue to
hold the government accountable
and keep monitoring if the
government is doing the right thing or not.
And if needed,
they should be able to
oppose the government.
PM Sheikh Hasina's
comment on these protestors,
is a clear-cut example
of the straw man fallacy.
This means that you are presenting
the other's argument in a wrong way
by distorting it.
If the protesters say that
they are against the reservation
given to the granddaughters
of freedom fighters,
how does it mean that
they are disrespecting
the freedom fighters?
When PM Sheikh Hasina's government
removed this reservation in 2018,
was she also disrespecting
the freedom fighters?
Such low-level argument
does not suit a Prime Minister.
I request Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina
to keep it respectful.
The demand of the
protesters is not unreasonable.
But now, on this topic, friends,
let's listen to the nonsense
of our Indian media.
In a TV program on Aaj
Tak, Sudhir Chaudhary
labelled the students'
protests to be foreign-funded.
While speaking whatever
he could dream of, he said that
America and other western
countries are behind this.
"Countries like America
keep provoking these riots
from behind with remote control.
Because the western
countries like America,
join hands with the opposition
parties of other countries."
He shared an infographic,
that showed a 10% reservation
for residents of developing districts.
This word clearly
means 'developing.'
Whereas Bangladesh has given a 10% quota
to the residents of backward districts.
And after this, Sudhir says that
some students from West Bengal
are supporting these protests
while these students want
reservation in our country.
How is this possible?
"Another shocking news is that
in support of this
movement in Bangladesh,
there are protests in
West Bengal as well.
These leftist students,
who want reservation in
government jobs in India,
are supporting those
riots in Bangladesh,
which are for the removal of
reservations in government jobs.
Such hypocrisy."
I don't understand whether so-called
journalists like Sudhir Chaudhary
really have a weak
reasoning power
or do they deliberately
mislead the public?
First, in their programs
they claim that
the reservations in
India is based on caste.
Whereas in Bangladesh,
it is based on other criteria.
"They don't have reservations
based on caste or religion.
Their reservation is different."
So what is the point
of this comparison?
In India, the
reservation is given to
so-called 'lower caste' people
who have faced
historical discrimination.
But not only historically,
even today,
we witness caste atrocities.
In Rajasthan, a Dalit
named Jitendra Pal Meghwal
was k!lled merely because
he had a moustache.
See this news article
on Aaj Tak's website.
In Gujarat, the Dalit groom
was not allowed to mount a mare.
Stones were thrown because
the groom's side wore turbans.
An 8 year old boy
touched a bucket of water
so he was brutally beaten.
And where did this happen?
In school.
The Sikh religion was based
on the principles of egalitarianism
meaning everyone is equal,
and there's no place for casteism.
But today, even in Punjab,
there are separate
gurudwaras for dalit Sikhs.
And according to these pro-government
journalists blinded by privileges,
there is no casteism
in our country.
According to them, positive affirmative
action like reservation is not required.
Everything's well.
I will say only this to them.
Why don't you talk
about ending casteism?
Why don't you talk about
ending caste-based crime?
These advertisements
printed on newspapers,
people looking for
"Brahmin girl," "Rajput girl,"
"Jat," or "Baniya"
these caste-based
matrimonial advertisements,
why aren't these banned?
Look at this matrimonial ad.
It even says that there
is no restriction on caste.
But the person should
not be SC, ST, or OBC.
The day we end this
caste discrimination,
the caste reservation
will automatically end.
But these journalists who try
to appease the government
will compare India's
caste reservation
to Bangladesh's Freedom
Fighter reservation.
The reservations in India
is to uplift the socially and economically
deprived classes to the same level.
But the Bangladeshi reservation for
the descendants of Freedom Fighters
is not a separate
ethnic minority.
They weren't being oppressed
for thousands of years.
In fact, they are the socially
respected section of the country.
If any of them is
economically weak,
then there can be a
5-10% EWS quota for them.
On 21st July, the Supreme Court
of Bangladesh said the same thing.
That the Freedom
Fighter descendants quota
should be reduced to only 5%.
And the other quotas for ethnic minorities,
transgenders, and disabled people
should be reduced to 2%,
so that the total reservation
is limited to only 7%.
Now, I personally believe that
the protests against
reservation in Bangladesh
are just the symptom
here, the real disease is
unemployment.
Like India,
unemployment has become a
huge problem in Bangladesh.
Public Administration Minister
Farad Hussain told the Parliament
in February that
more than 500,000 jobs
were vacant in their country.
But even if they are filled up,
it won't be enough.
Bangladesh's Bureau of
Statistics data shows that
1.8 to 1.9 young people
join the job market every year.
In the country of
170 million people,
the working population
is around two-thirds,
around 110 million.
30 million of these 110
million people are unemployed.
Bangladesh's economy
is in a bad shape.
The foreign exchange reserves
of the country are running low.
In 2022, Bangladesh asked for help
from the International Monetary Fund
to rebuild its foreign
exchange reserves.
Recently, they were planning
to take a loan of $5
billion from China.
Now, it's a
different matter that
whenever a country
takes loan from China,
its problems are never solved.
Instead, it creates
a new problem.
China's debt diplomacy,
which was seen in Sri Lanka.
Apart from this, the inflation
rates are high too at 9%.
The expenses are increasing
but people do not have jobs.
Improving the reservation
system is only the first step.
If they want a
long-term solution,
the government needs
to focus on job creation.
Apart from these
economic struggles,
questions have been raised on
Sheikh Hasina's political moves too.
In January, she won
her 4th consecutive term,
but there were accusations
of electoral rigging.
In this protest, there
were posters and slogans
that called her a dictator.
Like this slogan,
"Who are you? Who am I?
Razakar! Razakar!
Who says? Who says?
The Dictator! The Dictator!"
It means, "Who are
we supposed to be?
The oppressors, the Razakar.
And who said this?
The dictator did."
I hope that Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina
will be able to understand the
problems of her country's people
and will be able to take
a positive approach here.
If you liked this video,
I have made a detailed
video on Bangladesh's history
about what exactly
happened in the war of 1971.
You can click here to watch it.
Thank you very much!