The spark that ignited the escalating student protests in Bangladesh was dissatisfaction with a controversial quota system for government jobs. But the protests are also about corruption and the lack of democracy in the country, according to a South Asia researcher.
Over 120 people have been killed in clashes between police and demonstrators in Bangladesh in the past week. The students are demanding reforms of the quota system for government jobs that favors descendants of those who fought for the country's independence in 1971.
These quotas have created dissatisfaction and it has spread to the students because they are the ones who are supposed to educate themselves to compete for these attractive jobs, says Sten Widmalm, professor of political science at Uppsala University.
Authoritarian rule
But the background to the protests is more complex than that and is also directed against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's long-standing rule of the country, according to Sten Widmalm.
It has to do with the fact that it has been a dictatorship for a very long time. They had elections at the beginning of the year and it was not a democratic election. There is more dissatisfaction to capitalize on than the quotas, he says.
The opposition has largely boycotted the elections held in the country because they believe they have been rigged and favored the ruling Awami Party.
Has exploited the country
At the same time, growth in Bangladesh has increased significantly during Hasina's 15 years in power, and millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. But according to Sten Widmalm, it has come at the cost of corruption and violent exploitation of the country's natural resources.
Sheikh Hasina has in principle sold out the country and the natural resources that exist there in a way that is completely devastating for the country now and in the long run, he says.
