Bangladesh police given 'shoot-on-sight' orders amid national curfew

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/20/bangladesh-police-given-shoot-on-sight-orders-amid-national-curfew

by tempodox • 2 years ago

62 18 2 years ago

theguardian.com

slavboj• 2 years ago

So from a cursory reading, these protests were originally because a quota system for government jobs, originally intended for descendants of veterans, was in the past paused, and now has been reimplemented as set-asides for politically favored demographics?

thunfischbrot• 2 years ago

Yes, that’s one part of the initial protest. See https://northeastbylines.co.uk/news/world-news/report-from-b... for details. Unfortunately Bangladesh’s democracy was slowly suffocated, with the only party in power liking their corruption schemes a little too much to allow for fair elections.

Murky35152• 2 years ago

Should this be something that we shut down trade with Bangladesh over? If we continue to sell and buy stuff from a country that is gunning down its people over protests, doesn't that discredit any moral authority that we have? But at the same time, does it worsen the job situation and make the protests worse?

ricc• 2 years ago

I assume that by “we” you meant the United States, so the question is: How much moral authority/integrity is there left to discredit?

seanmcdirmid• 2 years ago

You could take the rest of the developed world as well, but the question wouldn’t be very different.

throwaway567572• 2 years ago

“…doesn't that discredit any moral authority that we have?”

This has the same answer as —

If we continue to sell and buy stuff from a country that HAS AND WOULD gun down its people over protests, doesn't that discredit any moral authority that we have?

See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests...]

It would be a worthy movement to lobby Congress/Parliament to sanction, via tariffs, countries whose governments suppress speech like that, but who’s going to start it, which critical mass of cheap-products-loving people in free societies are going to support it?

linearrust• 2 years ago

A throwaway peddling anti-china propaganda in a thread having nothing to do with china? How shocking.

hnbad• 2 years ago

Or, y'know, more obviously: Saudi Arabia. The country the West loves doing business with and doesn't make a show of demonizing for public appeal.

RicoElectrico• 2 years ago

Well, there were sanctions for Poland after the martial law of 1981...

from-nibly2• 2 years ago

"Moral authority" isn't a thing. Stuff is either right or wrong regardless of who participates or believes it.

Anyone who claims to have moral authority is just opressing others with their opinions.

"Should we do something" is a personal question, that my comment is not going to answer.

harimau777• 2 years ago

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying that a country should embargo a country doing evil regardless of considerations about moral authority. Or are you saying that moral authority isn't a thing and therefore a country shouldn't embargo another country even if they are doing evil?

relyks• 2 years ago

Shutting down trade will make life worse for Bangladeshis (and complications for apparel companies here). Textiles and garments are huge exports for Bangladesh and those industries employ many, many people there. I'm also of the opinion that the people of a country should be considered separate from its government and military (which may not have support from its people and be corrupt)

panarky• 2 years ago

I hate the relativistic argument "if you stop doing evil thing X then something even worse than X might happen".

Because that argument is always used to justify doing evil instead of doing good.

And the even worse thing might not even happen.

The world is dynamic.

If you stop trading with Bangladesh because they mistreat their people, maybe they'll stop mistreating their people to get the dollars flowing again.

Maybe the fact that we continue trading with a brutal regime is what allows the regime to remain in power.

Maybe evil thing X is just evil and we stop doing evil instead of rationalizing the evil away.

welder2• 2 years ago

I thought curfew meant only at night but sounds like nobody is allowed outside even in the daytime?

Murky35152• 2 years ago

It means whatever the men with guns say it means

welder2• 2 years ago

No I mean reading the news I had the wrong idea of the situation. It's a total lockdown not a curfew.

Bangladesh police given 'shoot-on-sight' orders amid national curfew

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