DHAKA, Aug 4 : At least 80 people were killed as fierce clashes erupted in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh prompting the authorities to declare a curfew after large numbers of students began a non-cooperation movement demanding the resignation of the country’s Sheikh Hasina government. Bangladesh news outlet Prothiom Alo said at least 80 people including 14 police personnel died in pitched battles across the south Asian nation between the security forces and ruling Awami League activists on the one hand and the protestors on the other.
Violence flared up in the country after a brief lull as protestors under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement began a non-cooperation agitation with a single-point demand for the government’s resignation over “atrocities” on students during last month’s anti-quota movement. The students have given a call for a long march on Monday.
To quell the unrest,the government has imposed an indefinite curfew from 6 pm Sunday and banned mobile internet services. The curfew will remain in effect till the next government orders, Dhaka Tribune reported. .
Bloody clashes were reported from across the nation. At least 13 police personnel from the Enayetpur Police Station in Sirajganj were killed when protestors attacked the station. The Police Headquarters confirmed the deaths in a press release. Protests against the Bangladeshi government’s quota system for public jobs escalated last month following violent clashes at Dhaka University. Protesters demanded an end to the extensive reservation quotas in government service.
Out of the 56 percent reserved posts, there was a quota of 30 percent for family members of the country’s 1971 liberation war veterans.
The protesting students alleged discrimination and favouritism toward supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose party Awami League led the independence movement against Pakistan rulers.
In many places where rallies and other forms of protest took place, many of the demonstrators chanted slogans calling for the government’s resignation, the Bangladeshi newspaper Daily Star reported. Mobile operators have received instructions from government regulators to shut down mobile Internet and applications, the report read.
On July 19, Bangladesh imposed a nationwide curfew to quell violence after over 100 people were killed and at least 300 police officers injured.
On July 21, the Bangladesh Supreme Court scrapped most of the quotas and ordered that 93 percent of public sector jobs should be recruited on merit, leaving 5 percent for the family members of veterans of the country’s independence war. A remaining 2 per cent is reserved for people from ethnic minorities or with disabilities. In late July, Zaved Akhtar, president of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said that the Bangladeshi economy had lost $10 billion to student protests, curfews, and communication blackouts.
On Sunday, In many places where rallies and other forms of protest took place, the demonstrators chanted slogans calling for the government’s resignation, the Bangladeshi newspaper Daily Star reported. Mobile operators have received instructions from government regulators to shut down mobile Internet and applications, the report read. (UNI)
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