By: Matthew Wang

In Bangladesh, protests over unfair hiring practices quickly escalated into a bloodbath that cost hundreds of lives, resulting in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigning and fleeing the country on August 5th 2024.
These peaceful-turned-deadly protests were originally started by a student protest group, Students Against Discrimination, in hopes of changing the quota system used by Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, this quota system, which reserves a percentage of jobs for the descendants of former freedom fighters along with minority groups, was allegedly used to unfairly promote those with connections to Hasina’s government.

However, after these protests were met with violence, with over 300 killed according to Associated Press, the goal of these protestors eventually shifted to a singular demand, the removal of Hasina from office. Despite the successful removal of most of the quota system, many protesters were angered by the excessive violence and mass arrests used by the regime. To make matters worse, during the new boom of protests, over 70 people were killed in scuffles with security forces according to The New York Times, further fueling the vengeance of the protesters. In addition Hasina’s reactions did not allay concerns in the slightest, and according to The New York Times, called the students protesting “terrorists” and calling for the armed forces to “to curb anarchists with iron hands.”

Hasina finally resigned and fled the country on August 5th, 2024, fulfilling the protestors’ singular demand, drawing joy from the protesters. According to an interview with The New York Times, one citizen stated that, “It is the victory of the students, the victory of the people. After a long time, we are happy to be out of a dictatorial regime.” Also, Hasina’s departure was quickly followed by the looting of her official residence, Ganabhaban, when a mob of people scaled its black gates and entered, throwing items around and ransacking the residence of the formerly most powerful person in the country.

Despite this victory, Bangladesh’s future still remains in chaos. Suffering one of the world’s worst unemployment, with 28% of graduates unemployed in 2022 according to the Daily Star and dealing with rising sea levels, Bangladesh’s future is still far from perfect. With a potentially shaky interim government, Bangladesh could easily fall into chaos, overcome by its financial failures and loss of land. As a new leader is to be chosen, the fate of Bangladesh may just as well rest on their back.