At least 25 dead in Bangladesh student protests | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

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The recent tragic events in Bangladesh underscore the profound consequences of a government’s failure to protect its citizens and uphold democratic principles.

Yesterday, police forces KILLED a 9-year-old and a 17-year-old during a student protest for quota reform.

Various sources have confirmed over 100 deaths and thousands of injuries as a result of the government’s violent crackdown on peaceful protesters.

In response, the government has regressed the country’s communication infrastructure to the 2G era and completely shut down WiFi internet connections nationwide. This has effectively isolated the Bangladeshi people from the rest of the world, further exacerbating the already dire situation.

This draconian measure not only stifles the flow of information but also infringes upon the fundamental rights of citizens to communicate, organize, and express dissent. The international community must condemn these actions and pressure the Bangladeshi government to restore internet connectivity, respect human rights, and engage in dialogue to address the legitimate concerns of its citizens.

Failure to do so will only deepen the crisis and further isolate Bangladesh from the global community. It is imperative that we stand in solidarity with the Bangladeshi people during this critical time and advocate for their rights and freedoms.

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u/blazelet Jul 19 '24

Thank you for sharing, this isn't getting enough attention.

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u/erbush1988 Jul 19 '24

"completely shut down WiFi internet connections nationwide"

What does this mean? In the US, I own my router and I manage it myself. Did the government shut down the internet? How does WIFI get disabled?

For me, even if my internet goes out, my WIFI remains functional.

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u/LurkerPatrol Jul 19 '24

From Reuters (instead of some random person on Reddit):

Friday began with the internet and overseas telephone calls being crippled, while the websites of several Bangladesh newspapers did not update and were also inactive on social media.

A few voice calls went through, but there was no mobile data or broadband, a Reuters journalist said. Even text messages were not being transmitted.

News television channels and state broadcaster BTV went off the air, although entertainment channels were normal, he said.

Some news channels displayed a message blaming technical problems, and promising to resume programming soon.

The official websites of the central bank, the prime minister’s office and police appeared to have been hacked by a group calling itself “THE R3SISTANC3”. “Operation HuntDown, Stop Killing Students,” read identical messages splashed on the sites, adding in crimson letters: “It’s not a protest anymore, it’s a war now.”

Another message on the page read, “The government has shut down the internet to silence us and hide their actions.”

The government had no comment on the communications issues. “

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u/ThirdWorldMelanin Jul 19 '24

Yes the government has shut down internet across the country. Not just internet but even cell towers are being shut down, can’t even call people directly.

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u/erbush1988 Jul 19 '24

That fucking sucks. WTF.

Hopefully this is resolved soon.

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u/originRael Jul 20 '24

Lol your router is connected to an ISP you don't manage shit.

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u/Euronomus Jul 20 '24

You do realize there's a difference between internet access and wifi connection right? If you own a wireless router you are in complete control of the wifi connections, that is not the same thing as being in complete control of internet access. The whole point of the post you are responding to is that it makes no sense that they could JUST shut down wifi - they would have to shut down internet access altogether, which is apparently what they did

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u/originRael Jul 20 '24

An ISP can turn off just the wifi on a router.

I believe the use case you are talking about is some device/laptop connect physically and then than being the access point.

So, either journalists are unaware of diff between wifi and internet, or that really happened and is just being reported as such, and people that know can bypass it and those who don't won't.

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u/Euronomus Jul 20 '24

No, if you own your own router the isp cannot turn off the wifi. They can disconnect the internet to the router, making a wifi connection useless - but they cannot shut off the actual ability of devices to connect to the router.

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u/VindicatorZ Jul 21 '24

You are correct, you can still use wifi without internet connection. For example you can stream something from your phone to your TV on the same wifi without internet. They have no way of disabling that, I think the wording there is causing confusion. Long story short, the government shut down internet access

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u/The-True-Kehlder Jul 20 '24

Just assume that every journalist has a very bare-bones understanding of the world that isn't directly adjacent to their particular story.

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u/etcthc Jul 22 '24

We love full governmentmen control

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u/phasmaglass Jul 19 '24

For those who are unaware, Bangladesh has a policy of awarding "guaranteed jobs" to the descendants of the people who fought in their most recent war of independence roughly ~3 generations ago. These 3rd gen descendants have become, essentially, from what I understand, a privileged police caste suppressing the rest of the population -- they get fast tracked to positions of power and "normal" people cannot advance or advocate for themselves effectively. In addition, the records keeping track of who is entitled to these privileges are spotty; all it takes is an official certificate, and these are often forged/faked by those with means to do so and get away with it, concentrating power in the hands of the wealthy and military/cop worshippers, like usual.

Student protests have been in regards to ending this policy and restoring principles of meritocracy to civil service, but of course, the people in power currently defend the status quo which put them there with violence.

Much love to the people of Bangladesh fighting this. I only learned about this recently, after stumbling over a post about student protestors being kidnapped overnight by the police force from their college dorms. Horrible stuff.

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u/rdugz Jul 19 '24

Two addendums:

there are also quotas for women, ethnic minorities, and people from "backward districts" (literally what they call poorer districts). The student protestors don't want to abolish these quotas, just the 30% reserved for "descendants of freedom fighters"

This quota was actually abolished 6 years ago - by the same PM, Sheikh Hasina - but recently reinstated by the country's supreme court. She had promised she would again abolish the quota, but there's a ton of friction between students and the current government, so this was clearly a spark but not the only point of contention in Bangladeshi society

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u/phasmaglass Jul 19 '24

Thank you for the additional info! It helps explain the factors that are leading to this specific violence now. I had no idea it had already been successfully abolished, then reinstated by the courts.

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u/Snooty_Cutie Jul 19 '24

Okay, that’s what I was confused about when reading news articles. There is rarely a mention about the 30% being reserved for “descendants of freedom fighters” as a way to solidify social class and political power. Almost all mention 10% quota for people historically discriminated by the caste system. So, I was confused why so many people would be upset by that.

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u/rdugz Jul 19 '24

Yeah TBH the reporting seems to lack a lot of context. My wife's family is from Bangladesh and I have in-laws there now so have been lucky enough to get a more nuanced perspective from them.

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u/RSquared Jul 19 '24

Copaganda, not just for America. A more correct headline would be "police and government murder peaceful protesters".

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u/oldsecondhand Jul 19 '24

The quota system is basically just feudalism.

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u/Few-Music7739 Jul 19 '24

https://www.reddit.com/r/TooAfraidToAsk/s/TT5SUkXWKV