In July, the Bangladeshi government cracked down on student-led protests – and nearly 200 civilians were killed over the course of a week. Violence erupted after students were protesting against a nepotistic quota system of who gets government jobs.
Members of the Connecticut Bangladeshi community have organized their own demonstrations in solidarity with protesters overseas. New Haven resident and Yale postgraduate researcher, MD Ashraf, helped organize a protest in front of Yale’s Schwarzman Center to raise awareness of the civilian deaths in Bangladesh.
“We tried to do what little we could do here,” said Ashraf, among the organizers of the event with Bangladeshi students and faculty from Yale University, the University of New Haven, and members of the greater New Haven community. “We called for action to end the facism that is happening in Bangladesh and to stop the killings and violence in Bangladesh.”
While many of the quota laws being protested have since been repealed, demonstrations continue. Protesters in Bangladesh are demanding the resignation of officials who oversaw the violence.
“Who should we ask for justice, the killers?” Ashraf said. “Those who killed our students, brothers and sisters? How can we ask for justice from the killers?”
While the official death count is nearly 200, members of the Connecticut Bangladeshi community believe hundreds more deaths have yet to be reported. Ashraf said the country-wide internet blackout imposed by the government in response to protests has made it difficult to get an accurate assessment.
Ashraf pointed to human rights organizations like the U.S.-based torture watchdog group, Socchar, which is attempting to keep an updated list of student deaths as new information is released.
Ashraf completed his undergraduate degree in Bangladesh at the University of Textiles, based in Dhaka. He’s found it difficult to keep tabs on the violence at his alma mater.
“So I heard that four students from my undergrad university were injured during the protest, but no deaths,” Ashraf said. “But at all other universities, they had a list of killed students.”
The past few weeks have been difficult for Connecticut’s Bangladeshi community, as they’ve seen footage of protesters being killed or severely injured by law enforcement.
“My wife and I were seeing the video of these [attacks], and we were crying together,” Ashraf said. “We are feeling hopeless…helpless. We see the suffering of the killed students and general people of Bangladesh, but we don't have anything to do. We are kind of out of power, so that's very much traumatizing.”
Ashraf and other Bangladeshi Americans are urging the U.S. to impose sanctions on Bangladeshi law enforcement. In 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a Bangladeshi paramilitary force that was found guilty of extrajudicial killings and torture. These sanctions reduced the number of killings in the coming years.
Ashraf pleaded with the U.S. government and international community to take action.
“Stand beside the Bangladeshi people to restore the democracy in Bangladesh, and also bring justice for all the human rights violations in Bangladesh,” Ashraf said.
The local Bangladeshi community is also encouraging Connecticut residents to reach out to elected officials to demand a push for sanctions – and to donate funds for injured protesters.
