As Bangladesh boils over, Sheikh Hasina’s peril is of her own making

During a press conference on 14 July, Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, was asked about the peaceful protests that had been on across the country’s university campuses for a week, with students demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs. “Why are they opposing the freedom fighter quota?” she asked in response. “Do they want the descendants of the Razakars to get all the facilities?”

Hasina was trying to discredit the protesters, but instead her use of the term “razakars” offended students and further fuelled their protests. Razakar is a pejorative used for people who collaborated with the Pakistan army during Bangladesh’s war for liberation in 1971. In reaction to the remark, students carried out marches late the same night, using “razakar” satirically in their slogans and accusing Hasina of labelling them as such for simply demanding their rights. Ministers and leaders of the ruling Awami League made remarks distorting the protesters’ slogans, again aiming to politically ostracise them.