The Riptides Underlying Current Student Protests

The riptides underlying current student protests
Ziauddin Choudhury
A looming crisis of a countrywide political movement started by university students over the service
quota system seems to have been averted by a bold move by the Prime Minister. She has taken the
wind out of the sail of the movement by declaring her decision to end the quota system altogether
albeit in a sentimental but effective way. Her decision may have taken everyone by surprise even the
protesting students as the decision went above and beyond their call. They wanted reform of the
system, not an end to it. The system benefited just not the freedom fighters and their descendants, but
also women and under privileged classes. It remains to be seen how a total termination of a system that
has been around for four decades would impact the country, and how the decision will be implemented.
The decision may halt a potentially bigger political outburst of a national scale ignited by an issue that
affects a small segment of the population (people seeking government jobs), but it still does not answer
the question why such marginal issues morph into national movement. An immediate reason for the
student protests is the perceived unfairness of the quota system in government service that favors
highly disproportionate reservation for the freedom fighters and their descendants. But this may not be
enough to explain the ability of the students to attract thousands of protesters to their cause in a matter
of hours all across the country unless there are deeper under currents. These under currents do not
happen overnight. The countrywide unrest over this issue is just the tip of the iceberg. There are riptides
that may lie deep under these currents.
Historically mass movements have been caused seething anger and unrest over political rights such as
freedom of speech, voting rights, and resistance to autocratic powers. Many times such resentments lie
dormant but can surface only when triggered by some mistaken policies or missteps by the government.
Such missteps may occur from neglecting early signs of trouble, or inability to handle an incident that
affects general public.
The people movement and later revolution in Tunisia in 2011 were triggered by the symbolic suicide of a
small shop keeper. In an effort to escape the suffocating unemployment that was rampant in Tunisia,
this young man had started a shop, which was raided and destroyed by the police on charges of lack of
license. In protest the young man committed suicide by burning himself in the public square. His death
by burning spread like wildfire which was simmering from galloping economic disparity, uncontrolled
corruption and graft among politicians. Soon the political storm would engulf the whole country. The
rest as we know is history.
Next came the well-known Tahrir square protests in Egypt and the birth of so-called Arab spring. The
Arab spring may have wound up as Arab winter, but it is worthwhile to remember how a small group of
students assembled via social media in the internet grew into a massive national movement. It was able
to mobilize not only students but also people from all strata of the social spectrum including the mighty
Army that threw its lot with the people in the street. The movement was able to not only dislodge the
Hosni Mubarak powerhouse, but also dismantle a political coterie characterized by rampant corruption
that Hosni Mubarak and his predecessors had built in the name of national integrity over four decades.
Pity the old Army backed politics is seemingly poised for a rerun, but it does not alter the historical
turnaround of 2011 in Egypt which was triggered initially by a small group of people.
There are several other such incidents that occurred in the last decade in several parts of the world that
were started by seemingly innocuous gathering of people after an incident or some form of protest that
gained strength to make a wider impact and develop into national movement. The incidents initiated by
small groups brought together other larger groups and galvanized them into action by providing them a
common platform of protests and nationwide campaign. The incidents helped to bring into fore
grievances against authority that were not addressed before and people felt neglected. These
grievances may be economic, political, social, or simply personal.
There is no reason to draw any parallel between the student protests that took place recently in
Bangladesh and those happening in the Middle East nearly a decade ago. But there are lessons that our
government may take from previous unrests among youth elsewhere.
The students who wanted a reform of the quota system wanted it because they felt marginalized in an
economy where job prospects had become elusive with a system not allowing fair competition.
According to a report of Economist Intelligence Unit of the Economist (2015) nearly 50% of college
graduates in Bangladesh remained unemployed. A quota system turns job prospect further into an
illusion. Added to this is the frustration of the common man to be able to access services in the country
that are supposed to help him. Be this in law enforcement, recourse to justice, education or health. A
pervasive system of graft, political favors, and nepotism has kept these away from the reach of the
common man. And this happens when the authorities who control these institutions that provide the
services remain unaccountable to people.
When a politics of a country becomes difficult because changes cannot be brought about in a
transparent manner people take extreme recourse. These extreme measures are sudden upsurge of
sporadic movements from apparently simple or even non-political issues that appeal to a broader swath
of public opinion and morph into bigger movement of a political change.
The issue of quota based service may die down for now because of a bold political move by the Prime
Minister but it may not immune the country from other political movements in the future demanding
redress of the grievances. In a democratic country such grievances are better addressed by elections
where people participate feely to send those people to the legislature who they think understand their
problems and are well suited to serve them.
We will not require a patchwork solution of our problems and solve them on a retail basis if we have a
parliament of legislators who are truly representatives of our people. By removing the quota system we
may remove only one obstacle for your youths. A more fundamental approach would be to build an
economy that attracts investment and creates opportunities of employment. This investment will come
from more transparency in our governance, restoration of rule of law and establishing democratic
practices. We hope the upcoming elections will lead us that way. Only a promise of fair elections can
remove the perils of any riptide underlying the latest student protests.

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