Hasnat Abdullah

Hasnat Abdullah is a human rights defender, a student of the English Department of Dhaka University, and one of the National Coordinators of the Students Against Discrimination Movement. The Students Against Discrimination Movement is a student led protest demanding reform of the quota system in government jobs in Bangladesh which started after the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruling in June 2024 revived a 30% quota for descendants of freedom fighters. A total 56 percent of first and second class government jobs in Bangladesh entailed quotas. 30 percent of the total reserved for the descendants of ‘freedom fighters’. This quota has been widely criticised as a discriminatory system to access jobs that is allegedly used politically.

Hasnat was taken and brought to custody of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch office on 27 July 2024.