Kolkata students take out rally in solidarity with Bangladesh’s anti-quota protesters

Students protest police attacks on Bangladesh anti-quota protesters, expressing solidarity and demanding a restructuring of the quota system.

Students carried out demonstrations against police attacks on Bangladesh’s anti-quota protesters on July 19. The protests saw the participation of students from across universities and organisations such as the All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO), All India Students’ Federation and others. This follows the protest march organised by AIDSO on Thursday from Lady Brabourne College to the Bangladesh High Commission.

The students marched and conducted sit-in demonstrations with banners expressing solidarity with Bangladeshis who are currently protesting against the reservation system in government jobs in the South Asian country.

Protests erupted across Bangladesh after a 30% reservation was reinstated for children and grandchildren of veterans of the 1971 War on June 5. On Thursday, police attacked student protestors attempting to impose a “complete shutdown” of the country. Bangladeshi media have reported the deaths of at least 28 people in the violence.

“We are demonstrating in solidarity with the democratic movement in Bangladesh and their right as citizens to demand a restructuring of the quota system,” Manishankar Pattanayak, West Bengal State president of the AIDSO, told The Hindu. “Authoritarian forces across the world have suppressed democratic movements, especially those being carried out by student communities.”

Another protestor, Gouranga Khatua, believes that a 30% reservation for descendants of Bangladeshi war veterans 53 years after the war is unfair to equal opportunity seekers. “Amidst the global unemployment crisis, it is fair for Bangladeshi job aspirants to oppose the reservation of opportunities for war veterans’ families. This march is thus a tribute to those protesting the Muktijoddha quota (freedom fighter quota) in Bangladesh,” he said.

Mr. Pattanayak said nearly a thousand protesters marched on Friday. “Our objective was to march peacefully from Rabindra Sadan to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission premises in Park Circus, but the police stopped us and heckled us,” he said. He said several student leaders and protesters were detained.

In a related development, trains between Dhaka and Kolkata were cancelled on Friday following a three-hour delay in departure from Darshana, Bangladesh. Maitree Express, which was scheduled to depart from Dhaka on Friday, and from Kolkata on Saturday, was declared cancelled by the Eastern Railways. The Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express, scheduled for July 21, has also been cancelled.