A huge insurrection led by thousands of young people is raging in 47 of Bangladesh's 64 districts against the capitalist government of Sheikh Hasina Wazed and the Awami League in the world's eighth most populous country. Prime Minister Hasina's government has imposed a curfew, and the deployment of the army has launched a crackdown to stop the movement that has caused more than 100 deaths, according to breaking hospital data. Hasina's government has also cut off telecommunications connections, news channels, and the internet to prevent the development of organizing among the activists leading the revolution.
The revolution of the youth of Bangladesh takes place within the framework of a revolutionary process that runs through the Southeast Asian region such as the revolution in Hong Kong, the revolution against the coup d'état in the neighboring country of Myanmar where armed militias are liberating huge swaths of territory by defeating the troops of the dictatorship; the revolution in Sri Lanka that defeated the oligarchy of the Rajapaksa family; or the general strike in India in 2020, the largest in history, which opened the crisis of the oligarchy of the Madani group, the Indian corporation that is the basis of support for the Modi government, and has led to the current electoral setback of the Modi government. All these processes of struggle that are taking place in Southeast Asia against capitalist governments are part of the revolutionary process that is shaking the world. If you are interested in reading about the world revolutionary process click here.
In capitalist Bangladesh, 41% of Bangladesh's youth are unemployed, which includes 66% of university graduates, making employment in the state one of the few employment opportunities for young people. The demonstrations that have blocked the streets of Dhaka, the country's capital, were triggered by the anger of students at the Supreme Court's decision to reinstate a quota system that reserves 30% of public jobs for the families of fighters in Pakistan's war of independence. But the people denounce that the quota system has gradually become a political tool for Hasina and the Awami League to maintain control of the state by filling key positions with loyal supporters, rewarding their henchmen at the expense of those who deserve it.
According to the aforementioned quota system, 56% of the positions are reserved, and the rest open to selection on merit, with 30% of the total vacancies being allocated to the grandchildren of veterans who fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, while 26% are reserved for women. disabled people, ethnic minorities and people from backward districts. The students are mainly calling for the repeal of 30 per cent of the vacancies reserved for the grandchildren of freedom fighters, while supporting the limited retention of the other categories. Prime Minister Hasina accuses the protesters of "razakar," a term used to describe Pakistan's collaborators at a time when the people of Bangladesh were fighting for their liberation from Pakistan.
The protests were peaceful until July 15, when members of the Chatra League, affiliated with the Awami League, began attacking them with bricks and iron bars, hitting especially women on the breasts, stomachs and heads, from which the insurrection spread throughout the country. The government suspended mobile phones to try to quell the unrest but has been unable to slow the insurrection, although Hasina's government officials said they were willing to hold talks with protesters.
But the activists leading the uprising refused to meet with Hasina's government and began attacking the official websites of the Central Bank, the Prime Minister's Office and the police by hackers who installed messages such as: "It's no longer a protest, now it's a war" or "Get ready. The fight for justice has begun."
The revolution of the youth and the people has led to the largest and most violent protests since Hasina's re-election in January 2024, to serve a fourth term of the 20 years that Hasina has been in power at various intervals. The quota system had been suspended in 2018 by other mass protests, and now Prime Minister Hasina's attempt to reinstate it has acted as gasoline that raises the flames of the protests that shake university campuses have been the main scenes of the protests.
The struggle of the people and youth of Bangladesh against the capitalist government of Hasina is the demonstration that the peoples of the world are carrying out important revolutions against capitalism and its governments, defying repression, overcoming the treacherous leaderships. The fight against unemployment is deeply linked to the struggle against capitalism, its regimes and its governments. A large number of women have joined the demonstrations. Young women are particularly precarious when it comes to access to education and work, with government surveys showing that 27 per cent of women aged 15-24 do not have access to education or work, compared with 10 per cent of young men.
From La Marx International we salute the revolution of the people of Bangladesh. We need to support this struggle from all over the world, as well as all the struggles of the oppressed peoples of the world against imperialism, capitalism, Wall Street and the corporations that dominate the world capitalist economy. The struggle of the people of Bangladesh, as well as of all the peoples of the Southeast Asian region, is a fundamental milestone in the path of the struggle to impose Global Socialism.
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