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Why Are There Protests in Bangladesh Again?

Bangladesh army personnel stand guard during a curfew following clashes between police and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement activists amid anti-government protests in the Shahbag area of Dhaka on August 5, 2024. (AFP)
Bangladesh army personnel stand guard during a curfew following clashes between police and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement activists amid anti-government protests in the Shahbag area of Dhaka on August 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Why Are There Protests in Bangladesh Again?

Bangladesh army personnel stand guard during a curfew following clashes between police and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement activists amid anti-government protests in the Shahbag area of Dhaka on August 5, 2024. (AFP)
Bangladesh army personnel stand guard during a curfew following clashes between police and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement activists amid anti-government protests in the Shahbag area of Dhaka on August 5, 2024. (AFP)

Bangladesh is on the boil again with close to 100 people killed on Sunday as protesters, calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, clashed with security forces and supporters of the ruling party.

Last month, at least 150 people were killed and thousands injured in violence touched off by student groups protesting against reserved quotas in government jobs.

Here are details of the new protests and their history:

CALLS FOR HASINA TO STEP DOWN

The "Students Against Discrimination" group, which was at the forefront of last month's job quota protests, is leading the latest demonstrations.

The protests to reform the quota system paused after the Supreme Court scrapped most quotas on July 21. Protesters, however, returned last week demanding a public apology from Hasina for the violence, restoration of internet connections, reopening of college and university campuses and release of those arrested.

By the weekend, the demonstrations spiraled into a campaign seeking Hasina's ouster as demonstrators demanded justice for people killed last month.

The students' group called for a nationwide non-cooperation movement starting Sunday with a single-point agenda - Hasina must resign.

WHY DO PROTESTERS WANT HASINA'S RESIGNATION?

The protesters blame Hasina's government for the violence during the protests in July. Hasina's critics and rights groups have accused her government of using excessive force against protesters, a charge the government denies.

WHAT HAS HASINA SAID RECENTLY?

Hasina, 76, and her government initially said students were not involved in the violence during the quota protests and blamed the Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for the clashes and arson.

But after violence erupted again on Sunday, Hasina said that "those who are carrying out violence are not students but terrorists who are out to destabilize the nation".

The students group has declined Hasina's offer for talks to resolve the crisis.

WHAT TRIGGERED THE JOB-QUOTA PROTESTS?

Demonstrations started at university campuses in June after the High Court reinstated a quota system for government jobs, overturning a 2018 decision by Hasina's government to scrap it.

The Supreme Court suspended the high court order after the government's appeal and then dismissed the lower court order last month, directing that 93% of jobs should be open to candidates on merit.

FLAGGING ECONOMY, UNEMPLOYMENT

Experts also attribute the current unrest in Bangladesh to stagnant job growth in the private sector, making public sector jobs, with their accompanying regular wage hikes and privileges, very attractive.

The quotas sparked anger among students grappling with high youth unemployment, as nearly 32 million young people are out of work or education in a population of 170 million.

The flagging economy, once among the world's fastest growing on the back of the country's booming garments sector, has stagnated. Inflation hovers around 10% per annum and dollar reserves are shrinking.

HASINA WINS JANUARY ELECTION

Hasina retained power for a fourth straight term in a January general election boycotted by BNP, which accused her Awami League of trying to legitimize sham elections.

BNP said 10 million party workers were on the run ahead of the election with nearly 25,000 arrested following deadly anti-government protests on Oct. 28. Hasina blamed the BNP for instigating anti-government protests that rocked Dhaka ahead of the election and left at least 10 people dead.

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Who Is Joseph Aoun, a Low-Profile Army Chief Who Is Now Lebanon’s President?

Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reviews the honor guard upon his arrival at the Lebanese Parliament to be sworn in as a new president, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP)
Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reviews the honor guard upon his arrival at the Lebanese Parliament to be sworn in as a new president, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP)
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Who Is Joseph Aoun, a Low-Profile Army Chief Who Is Now Lebanon’s President?

Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reviews the honor guard upon his arrival at the Lebanese Parliament to be sworn in as a new president, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP)
Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reviews the honor guard upon his arrival at the Lebanese Parliament to be sworn in as a new president, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP)

Lebanon’s new president and former army commander Joseph Aoun has maintained a low profile. Those who know him say he is no-nonsense, kind and averse to affiliating himself with any party or even expressing a political opinion — a rarity for someone in Lebanon’s fractured, transactional political system.

Bilal Saab, a former Pentagon official who is now senior managing director of the TRENDS US consulting firm, often met Aoun while overseeing Washington's security cooperation in the Middle East. He called Aoun a "very sweet man, very compassionate, very warm" who avoided political discussions "like the plague."

"He really was viciously nonpartisan, did not have any interest in even delivering speeches or doing media," Saab said. "He wanted to take care of business, and his only order of business was commanding the Lebanese army."

That might make Aoun an odd fit as Lebanon’s president after being elected Thursday — ending a more than two-year vacuum in the post — but Saab said it could be a boon for the country where incoming leaders typically demand that certain plum positions go to supporters.

"He’s not going to ask for equities in politics that typically any other president would do," Saab said.

Aoun, 61, is from Aichiye, a Christian village in Jezzine province, southern Lebanon. He joined the army as a cadet in 1983, during Lebanon's 15-year civil war.

George Nader, a retired brigadier general who served alongside Aoun, recalled him as keeping cool under fire.

They fought together in the battle of Adma in 1990, a fierce confrontation between the Lebanese army and the Lebanese Forces militia during the war's final stages. Nader described it as one of the toughest battles of his career.

"The level of bloodshed was significant and I remember Joseph was steady and focused," he said.

Aoun commanded the Lebanese army's 9th infantry brigade before being appointed army chief in March 2017.

During his tenure as commander, he oversaw the army’s response to a series of crises, beginning with a battle to push out militants from the ISIS group and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, who were then operating in eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border. The army fought in coordination with the Hezbollah group.

HTS in its current iteration led a lightning offensive that toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month and has become the de facto ruling party in Syria.

The Lebanese army navigated other challenges, including responding to mass anti-government protests in 2019, the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that came to a halt with a ceasefire agreement in November.

The Lebanese military largely stayed on the sidelines in the Israel-Hezbollah war, only returning fire a handful of times when Israeli strikes hit its positions. Dozens of soldiers were killed in airstrikes and shelling

The military also took a major hit when Lebanon's currency collapsed beginning in 2019, reducing the monthly salary of a soldier to the equivalent of less than $100.

In a rare political statement, Aoun openly criticized the country's leadership for its lack of action on the issue in a speech in June 2021.

"What are you waiting for? What do you plan to do? We have warned more than once of the dangers of the situation," he said. The United States and Qatar both at one point subsidized soldiers' salaries.

Ed Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a nonprofit that aims to build stronger US-Lebanon ties, said he met Aoun about seven years ago when he was taking over command of the armed forces and "immediately found him to be the best of those that we had worked with."

He described Aoun as a "very direct guy, very honest" and a leader "who inspires loyalty by his hard work." Those attributes helped Aoun to prevent a flood of defections during the economic crisis, when many soldiers had to resort to working second jobs, Gabriel said.

On a personal level, Gabriel described Aoun as a humble and deeply religious man. Like all Lebanese presidents and army commanders under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system, Aoun is a Maronite Christian.

"His religion really sets the groundwork for ... his value system and his morals," Gabriel said.

In Aoun's hometown, residents burst into celebrations after his election, setting off fireworks, dancing in the streets and handing out sweets.

"We are currently living in very difficult times, and he is the right person for this challenging period," said Claire Aoun, among those celebrating. "May God guide and support him, and may he rebuild this entire nation for us."

But Aoun's election was not without controversy or universally supported, even among fellow Christians.

One of the most influential Christian parties in the country, the Free Patriotic Movement of former President Michel Aoun — no relation to the current president — opposed his candidacy. And the Lebanese Forces party gave him their endorsement only the night before the election.

Some have argued that Joseph Aoun’s election violated the law. The Lebanese constitution bars a sitting army commander from being elected president, though the ban has been waived multiple times. Some legislators were not happy doing it again.

Some in Lebanon also perceived Aoun's election as the result of outside pressure — notably from the United States — and less the result of internal consensus. Hezbollah's war with Israel weakened the group, politically and militarily, and left Lebanon in need of international assistance for reconstruction, which analysts said paved the way for Aoun's election.

Saab, the analyst, said painting Aoun as a puppet of Washington is unfair, although he acknowledged there’s no such thing as a Lebanese president or prime minister completely independent of foreign influence.

"The entire country is heavily penetrated and vulnerable and at the mercy of international powers," Saab said. "But ... if you were going to compare him to the leadership of Hezbollah being fully subservient to Iranian interests, then no, he’s not that guy when it comes to the Americans."