UNIVERSITY PARK — Members of the Penn State Bangladesh Cultural Club and Penn State Bangladesh Student Association, in addition to other local students and community members, gathered on Old Main Lawn on Tuesday, July 23, to hold a candle and lantern lighting event in solidarity with the students of Bangladesh.
The event was held to remember and commemorate the students of Bangladesh who lost their lives protesting for job equality on Monday, July 15.
One local high school student, Nubah Nusaibah, shared how after seeing what the students in Bangladesh were experiencing, worked with her sister, Nurayeen Nuha, who is president of the Bangladesh Cultural Club at Penn State, to put together an event that would honor the lives lost.
The event was organized both by the Penn State Bangladesh Cultural Club, a club for university undergraduates, and the Penn State Bangladesh Student Association, a club for graduate students, and 60 people attended.
Protests have been occurring in Bangladesh over the past month. According to the United States Institute for Peace, the student protests began in response to the nation’s job quota systems, which opposers claim disproportionately benefit descendants of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War fighters or government supporters.
The peaceful protests reportedly turned violent on Monday, July 15, when protesters were attacked, including six killed, by members of the Chharta League — a student group affiliated with the prime minister of Bangladesh’s party that is backed by police. As of Tuesday, July 22, Human Rights Watch reported that there have been more than 160 deaths “due to excessive force” used during the protests, with many more injured.
Bangladesh’s quota systems were abolished in 2020 but reinstated earlier this year by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. However, The New York Times reported on Sunday, July 21, that the country is planning on scaling back policy, reducing the number of jobs reserved for descendants of war veterans in response to the protests.
“I’m privileged to be in the U.S. right now where I have the freedom of speech and the right to protest. The people that are in Bangladesh may not be directly related to me, but I still am connected to them,” Nusaibah said. “Even if I can’t fully understand it, I feel their pain, struggle and oppression. Media and internet are completely shut off in the country, and I took it upon myself as a Bangladeshi in a foreign country to spread awareness regarding what’s happening to my people.”
The Human Rights Watch said that the army was deployed against the student protestors, and the government implemented a “shoot-on-sight curfew” order and shut down civilians’ access to mobile data and the internet. According to a United Nations Human Rights Council 2016 resolution, a government intentionally shutting down the internet to prevent and disrupt access to or dissemination of information is a violation of human rights law.
Nusaibah went on to explain how the subheading for the event is “Students for Students,” sharing “the youth is responsible for pulling people up and supporting each other — and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
According to data published by Penn State Global in May 2023, Bangladesh has the 10th highest number of international students studying at the university, with 132 students enrolled.
“Everyone should advocate for justice. It doesn’t matter where it is, when it is, but everyone should be for justice and for the truth,” said Nusaibah. “Moreover, people should recognize their privilege and learn to be the voice for people that are literally being stopped from speaking up. That is activism, advocacy and on the simplest terms — being a good person.”
