Political Unrest in Bangladesh: Deadly Violence and Economic Impact

Over the weekend, the political crisis in Bangladesh reached a new peak as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government cracked down heavily on protests. According to reports, at least 93 people died on Sunday when police and supporters of the ruling Awami League party clashed with protesters. These most severe riots in years occurred nationwide in the country of 170 million people. Buildings including government facilities and textile factories were set ablaze, and many of the deceased were killed by live ammunition. To bring the situation under control, authorities imposed an "indefinite" curfew from Sunday evening and shut down mobile internet access. The recent demonstrations represent the most intense outbreak of protests to date, initiated last month by students against a controversial quota system in the public service. These quotas allegedly favored supporters of the Awami League. Approximately 200 people had already died during the initial protests, which plunged the country into days of communication chaos and crippled the economy, especially the vital textile sector. Although the Supreme Court has since softened the quota system, which reserved one-third of government jobs for veterans of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, the protests have escalated into a larger uprising against Sheikh Hasina's governance. Sheikh Hasina, the world's longest-serving female head of government, was re-elected for a fifth term this year in a contentious election. Critics, including the USA, accuse her of arresting political rivals and thus influencing the election outcome in her favor. Observers note that Sheikh Hasina increasingly exhibits autocratic traits and uses the police and judicial system to harass her opponents and suppress civil society. Over the weekend, the Prime Minister intensified her criticism of the demonstrators, labeling them as "terrorists" who need to be "suppressed." She blamed opposition parties like the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the recently banned Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami for the protests. Once one of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh has seen impressive economic growth over the past decades, even surpassing neighboring India in terms of GDP per capita. A key driver of this growth is the world's second-largest textile industry, which supplies major brands. However, since the Covid-19 pandemic, the country has been grappling with a painful economic slowdown, which has heightened public dissatisfaction with Sheikh Hasina's government and the alleged corruption of government officials and loyal businesspeople. The current curfews and internet shutdown will further affect the textile sector, which already had to shut down factories and delay shipments last month due to the protests.