On the night of Tuesday 16 July 2024, a horrific video circulated on social media, deeply shaking the people of Bangladesh and millions of Bangladeshis worldwide. The footage clearly showed the Bangladeshi Police fatally shooting an undergraduate student at close range in broad daylight on the streets of Rangpur City.
Students in Bangladesh have been demonstrating and demanding a fair recruitment system for government employment and the reform of the discriminatory quota system in government job recruitment. On Sunday 14 July 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina mocked the student protesters, using derogatory terms, which incited further demonstrations across various cities in Bangladesh.
These student protesters were subsequently met with harsh violence carried out jointly by the police and thugs from Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling party, Bangladesh Awami League. The images and videos that emerged in the following days were traumatising.
Police and Chhatra League thugs used firearms and sharp objects to kill and assault students, regardless of their gender and age. They were attacked in hospitals while receiving medical treatment for their injuries and even in their homes where they were hiding.
According to official reports from various international media outlets, more than 200 students were killed until now, although the actual number is likely much higher. The number of severely injured students is estimated to be in the thousands.
On the night of Thursday 18 July, the government shut down internet and phone communication, effectively disconnecting Bangladesh from the rest of the world, imposed a curfew, and deployed the military in different cities.
These gross human rights violations and atrocities sparked protest events by the Bangladeshi diaspora worldwide—in North America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Australia, as well as in Middle Eastern and Asian countries—to express solidarity with the oppressed people in Bangladesh and raise international awareness about the severe human rights violations committed by the Awami League government.
Multiple protest events have already taken place in Sydney and Melbourne. The Bangladeshi community has also organised a protest in front of the Bangladeshi High Commission in Canberra and is planning more events in various Australian cities. Several Australian politicians, including Senator David Shoebridge and Hon Minister Tony Burke, have published video messages on social media expressing their concerns.
On the evening of Sunday 21 July, a Janaza prayer for the martyrs in Bangladesh and a protest event were jointly organised by several Bangladeshi community organisations in Lakemba, Sydney. The event was attended by Bilal El-Hayek, the Mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown City Council, Masud Khalil, the Deputy Mayor of Cambelltown City Council and various other local political and community leaders. The funeral prayer in absentia was led by Shaikh Abu Huraira.
Hundreds of Bangladeshi families and students attended this event, calling on the Australian government to apply diplomatic and economic pressure on the autocratic Sheikh Hasina regime in Bangladesh to stop the massacre of young students. Community leaders at the event expressed the view that only international intervention at this stage can hold the perpetrators accountable for the ongoing killings and torture.
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