The untimely death of at least two students in a reckless bus accident on July 29, 2018 and the intolerable remarks regarding road safety that followed from the shipping minister Shajahan Khan led to a massive and unprecedented student protest. Notably, Bangladesh has one of the worst road safety numbers as there is virtually no implementation of traffic laws and widespread corruption by the traffic police.
On July 30th, students took to the streets and stopped the roads near Hazrat Shahjalal Airport, with banners and placards that cried for better road safety, better enforcement of traffic and vehicle laws, proper punishment of the driver who caused the accident and better treatment of the victims’ families by the authorities. Ever since that day, the protest has spread out to all parts of Dhaka and beyond, with students showcasing the quintessential definition of young spirit in its full glory. These students have no political affiliation and don’t have a leader. They collectivized out of sheer determination to bring very necessary change . Whether it be through stopping vehicles on the street to check the license of drivers and paperwork of vehicles, creating separate lanes on the roads for different kinds of vehicles or making a policeman fine himself because he didn’t have the proper license, they have done more than Bangladesh police and law enforcement agencies have managed to do in years.
Crackdown:
On the 4th of August, what happened is probably the worst clampdown on dissent a Bangladeshi individual could think of. The Bangladesh Chhatro League, the youth wing of the ruling party, has been beating up students and sexually assaulting young females in different areas of the city, as a means to stop the young voices in this protest once and for all. Four girls have been allegedly abducted and raped and more are held hostage in the City College and Dhaka College areas.
The police has been ordered to not interfere with the atrocities that BCL is doing (even without official orders, the consensus is that the police is absolutely complacent and are not stopping violence. There is a legacy of politicization in all of the state apparatus in Bangladesh).
The number of students still on the roads protesting are severely outnumbered by these vicious goons and with little local news coverage, chances of preventing more casualties and getting proper justice seems slim. We need coverage on the issue from international news agencies to gain any traction at all. We need external institutions to recognize this mass violence that is only expected to get worse and create pressure in our government to stop politicizing every movement by students and recognize the brevity of its actions.