On the 14th of August, Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican presidential candidate, condemned the violence unleashed by Islamists on Hindus in Bangladesh since the unceremonious ouster of Sheikh Hasina from power on 5th August.
Taking to X, Vivek Ramaswamy said that a quota conflict in Bangladesh created to rectify the wrongs of rape and violence in 1971 is now leading to more rape and violence in 2024. He called the ongoing anti-Hindu pogroms in Bangladesh by ‘radicals’ “wrong” and “concerning”.
Telling in brief how the quota system came into existence after Bangladesh’s liberation, Ramaswamy wrote, “The targeted violence against Hindus in Bangladesh is wrong, it’s concerning, and it’s a cautionary tale for victimhood-laced quota systems. Here’s what happened: Bangladesh fought a bloody war for its independence in 1971. Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi civilians were raped and murdered. It was a tragedy, and it was rightly mourned. But in its aftermath, Bangladesh implemented a quota system for jobs in their civil service: 80% of the jobs were allocated to specific social groups (war veterans, rape victims, underrepresented residents, etc.), and only 20% were allocated based on merit.”
The targeted violence against Hindus in Bangladesh is wrong, it's concerning, and it's a cautionary tale for victimhood-laced quota systems. Here's what happened: Bangladesh fought a bloody war for its independence in 1971. Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi civilians were…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 14, 2024
Furthermore, Vivek Ramaswamy called the quota system a “disaster” and pointed out how it triggered widespread protests in 2018 demanding the scraping of quotas, however, as the quota patrons fought back, it was reinstated in 2024. He claimed that as the controversial quotas were reinstated, it triggered further protests resulting in the toppling of the Hasina government adding that since then Hindu minorities have been targeted by ‘radicals’. Calling bloodshed the endpoint of grievance and victimhood, Ramaswamy asserted that there are several lessons to learn from the Bangladesh episode.
“The quota system proved to be a disaster. In 2018, protests led Bangladesh to scrap most of the quotas, but the victim-patrons fought back…and the quota system was reinstated this year. That triggered more protests which toppled the government, and the prime minister fled. Once chaos begins, it can’t easily be reined in. Radicals are now targeting Hindu minorities. A quota conflict created to rectify the wrongs of rape and violence in 1971 is now leading to more rape and violence in 2024. Bloodshed is the endpoint of grievance and victimhood. It’s hard not to look at Bangladesh and wonder what lessons we would do well to learn right here at home,” Ramaswamy posted.
While the denouncement of the ongoing violence against Hindus in Bangladesh is appreciated, Vivek Ramaswamy missed some crucial points in his post. The 2024 anti-quota protests led by students were never anti-government protests since it was the Sheikh Hasina-led government that had scrapped the quota for government jobs.
The 2024 anti-quota protest traces its roots back to the anti-quota movement in 2018. On the 8th of March 2018, the Bangladesh High Court rejected a petition challenging the validity of the country’s quota system, which has been in effect since the 1970s. After this, Sheikh Hasina stated that she would preserve the quota for the descendants of liberation war veterans. However, her decision caused widespread student discontent. In reaction to the turmoil, Hasina issued an executive order cancelling quotas for families of freedom fighters in Bangladesh’s civil service.
It must be noted that until 2018, 56% of government posts in Bangladesh were reserved for certain groups. These groups included people with disabilities (1%), indigenous communities (5%), women (10%), people from underdeveloped districts (10%), and families of freedom fighters from the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War (30%).
In June 2024, the Bangladeshi High Court overturned PM Hasina’s order and decided to reinstate 30% reservation in government jobs to the descendants of the freedom fighters of the 1971 Liberation War. This sparked violent protests across the country.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division upheld the High Court’s decision on the 4th of July triggering widespread protests. After Sheikh Hasina govt filed an appeal against it, the Bangladeshi apex court directed all petitioners to maintain the status quo till the 7th of August 2024.
It is thus, clear that the students and the govt were on the same side, and therefore the student protests were not essentially anti-government protests as misconstrued by Ramaswamy. The student protests were hijacked by opposition parties like the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and jihadist Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). While protests became more violent as clashes between protestors and police rose, the violence escalated when the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) began to amp up the protests and use them to attack the ruling Awami League government. The involvement of these opposition groups exacerbated the intensity of the protests, as their supporters joined in.
While the Supreme Court attempted to placate the unrest by annulling the quota ruling, however, the protests now hijacked by BNP and JeI supporters grew adamant about seeking Sheikh Hasina’s resignation. Both the parties, notorious for their disdain for Hindus and India have been accused of active involvement in anti-Hindu violence.
Speaking to OpIndia, the Hindus in Bangladesh said that Jamaat-e-Islami members have been making a list of Hindu businesses and Hindu houses since the fall of Sheikh Hasina.
