A new round of violence in Bangladesh has left dozens of people dead and hundreds injured as student protesters clashed with police and ruling party activists.
The protests began as students called for an end to a quota system that awarded 30 per cent of government jobs to relatives of veterans, but they escalated into violence that left more than 200 dead in July.
The country’s leading Bengali-language daily, Prothom Alo, said at least 49 people died in violence on Sunday alone. Channel 24 reported at least 50 deaths.
Protesters are now calling for the resignation of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
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Authorities closed schools and universities across the country on Sunday, blocked internet access and imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew. At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.
Protesters called for “non-co-operation”, urging people not to pay taxes and utility bills and stay off work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, while commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to work.
Meanwhile, thousands of members of the ruling Awami League party and its associate bodies took to the streets for counter-protests, raising the risk of violent confrontations.
Protesters attacked Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major public hospital in Dhaka’s Shahbagh area, torching several vehicles.
In Dhaka’s Uttara area, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who blocked a major road.
Protesters attacked homes and vandalised a community welfare office in the area, where hundreds of ruling party activists took positions. Some crude bombs were detonated and gunshots were heard, witnesses said.
At least 20 people were hit by bullets.
Jamuna TV station reported violent clashes in more than a dozen districts including Bogura, Magura, Rangpur and Sirajganj, where the protesters backed by the country’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party clashed with police and the activists of the ruling Awami League party and its associated bodies.
Junior minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat said mobile internet and messaging services were off to help prevent violence. The government also announced a holiday from Monday to Wednesday, and courts will remain closed for an indefinite period.
The protests began last month as students demanded an end to a quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971
As violence crested, the country’s supreme court scaled back the quota system to 5 per cent of jobs, with 3 per cent for relatives of veterans, but protests have continued, demanding accountability for violence the demonstrators blame on the government’s use of excessive force.
The quota system also includes quotas for members of ethnic minorities, and disabled and transgender people, which were cut from 26 per cent to 2 per cent in the ruling.
Ms Hasina’s administration has blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and now-banned right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party and their student wings for instigating violence, in which several state-owned establishments were also torched or vandalised.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the main opposition party, repeated a call for the government to step down to stop the chaos.
Ms Hasina offered to talk with student leaders on Saturday, but a co-ordinator refused and announced a one-point demand for her resignation.
Ms Hasina repeated her pledges to thoroughly investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said her doors are open for talks and she is ready to sit down whenever the protesters want.
The protests have become a major challenge for Ms Hasina, who has ruled the country for more than 15 years, returning to power for a fourth consecutive term in January in an election that was boycotted by her main opponents. – AP