Rashed Khan Menon was arrested last week by the interim government in Bangladesh and accused of involvement in the death of anti-government protesters
Since Sheikh Hasina resigned, there has been a wave of targeted arrests and attacks on her party and its allies. Vijay Prashad warns that the interim government may steer the country away from the original sentiments of the protesting students
Rashed Khan Menon was arrested on Thursday in what is widely seen as part of a broader crackdown against allies of the ousted government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Since Hasina stepped down on August 5, there have been increasing incidents of violence against members of her party and symbols of the Liberation War.
The technocratic interim administration also includes leaders of the student movement which was instrumental in forcing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and leave the country on August 5.
Vijay Prashad reflects on the last several weeks in Bangladesh of protests and convulsions, which culminated in the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
The protests, initially led by students demanding reforms in the quota system in government jobs, took a violent turn in the last weeks of July
Over 160 people, including students, were killed, and hundreds of others were injured in the last two weeks after student protests turned violent on July 15
Over 140 people including students were killed in the days of clashes between the protesters demanding curtailment of quota in government jobs and security forces
On Thursday, the Sheikh Hasina government announced that it is ready to start negotiation with the students demanding reforms in the quota system for government jobs.
Thousands of students from universities across the country have been protesting for weeks demanding the abolition of the 30% quota for the descendants of country’s freedom fighters and other reforms in the recruitment for government jobs.
Public sector jobs in Bangladesh have a 30% quota for descendants of participants in the country’s liberation war in 1971. The provision has become unpopular among the youth who are facing an unemployment crisis
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