Student protesters during anti-freedom fighter quota demonstration at Dhaka University on June 5th (Photo: United News of Bangladesh)
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Bangladesh Unrest Reopens Old Wounds
Since June, protests have occurred throughout Bangladesh in response to a decision by the country's High Court that reversed a 2018 ruling canceling the quota system for freedom fighters and their descendants, reinvigorating societal divides that stem from the 1971 Liberation War. The decision caused university students and other people who would be most affected by the ruling to protest and stage sit-ins that shut down major roads and railways and forced the closure of universities throughout the country. In mid-July, however, the protests shifted to riots in cities throughout Bangladesh.