Life in Dhaka is slowly returning to normal, but something has changed. It feels as though a Rubicon has been crossed.
If the shocking events of the past week have not been enough to persuade the powers that be that Bangladesh requires fundamental, far-reaching, structural change, then I don’t know what will.
Make no mistake, this was never about just quotas – or to the extent that it once was, that issue lies dead and buried since the government’s efforts to shut down the protests took a deadly turn on Tuesday.
Let’s start at the start. Quota reform has always been a proxy for a critique of more far-reaching corruption and cronyism. What the students were really revolting against is the injustice of a system and set-up where who you know and who your family is matter more than what you are and what you can do.
The problem with the quotas for freedom fighters and their families is not so much that anyone has an issue with freedom fighters and their families per se, as it is that we all know that the quota system exists as a tool for patronage and cronyism.
If those availing themselves of the freedom fighters quota really were all genuine freedom fighters or...
