On July 14, 2024, tensions flared as hundreds of students poured out of their DU dormitories to protest a “disparaging comment” made by then–prime minister Sheikh Hasina regarding quotas in government jobs.
On July 13, 2024, the Students Against Discrimination announced a fresh set of protest programmes, shifting their strategy from blockades to processions and symbolic marches.
Despite the weekly holiday, anti-quota protesters once again blocked the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka, demanding reforms to the quota system in government jobs and condemning the police action on students the previous day.
On July 11, 2024, the anti-quota movement entered a new phase of confrontation. Ignoring police warnings and ministers’ calls to step back, thousands of protesters defied barricades and took to the streets as part of their “Bangla Blockade.”
July 10, 2024.Protesters refuse to back down.Shamsuddoza Sajen.The protests over the quota system in government jobs showed no signs of slowing down on July 10 as students across the country vowed to continue their movement despite the Supreme Court’s order for a four-week stat
The ongoing Bangla Blockade paused for a day as students leading the quota reform movement prepared for their next round of protests.
For the second consecutive day, the Bangla Blockade grips the capital, with thousands of students and jobseekers bringing traffic to a standstill at key intersections across Dhaka.
Beyond Dhaka, protesters hold the streets with equal resolve
On May 25, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra was shifted to Calcutta where it started functioning the same day.
In a letter dated May 24, 1971, Pakistan President Yahya Khan expressed his gratitude towards American President Richard Nixon and said,
On May 23, 1971, American President Nixon had a discussion with his Assistant for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger as to the situation in Pakistan.
The US consul general in Karachi sent a telegram to the US State Department providing details of his meeting with Pakistan President Yahya Khan on May 22, 1971. As to the political situation in Pakistan, Yahya Khan affirmed his belief that the future of the wings were intertwined with the whole.
Pakistan today conceded that there had been violations of human rights in East Pakistan and that “as in all conflicts innocent people had suffered”.
The Pakistan military junta has failed to restore civil administration in areas under its control in Bangladesh despite desperate efforts and it would never be able to do so, Bangladesh Home Minister AHM Kamaruzzaman told UNI in an interview published in the Hindustan Times today.
UN Secretary General U Thant appealed today to all governments and private sources to send relief assistance for the Bangladesh refugees who had crossed over to India.
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi warned Pakistan today that India “is fully prepared to fight if the situation is forced on us”.
Tajuddin Ahmad, the prime minister of Bangladesh, issued an 18-point directive on May 14 outlining the tasks of the people in the Liberation Struggle. He urged that the people should not listen to rumours nor should they have doubts about the ultimate victory.
Any American economic aid to Pakistan “will leave cash in their hands to pay their French arms bill and to step up arms purchases in the open market”, Rehman Sobhan charged today, adding that the US should give no aid, except for relief to be dispensed by international agencies.
