A court’s reinstatement of a quota system for government jobs has stirred violent unrest.
Ahammad Foyez/Dhaka
At least six people died and hundreds were injured during a third day of student protests in Bangladesh on Tuesday against a quota system for government jobs that has sparked escalating violence and brought parts of the country to a standstill.
The government deployed the Border Guard Bangladesh in Dhaka and other cities to quell street fighting and clear roads occupied by students, who said they have faced an onslaught of attacks by pro-government youth groups. The Ministry of Education announced it has closed all schools and colleges until further notice.
“We want justice for those who killed and injured – our brothers across the country,” a protest leader, Nahid Islam, told a rally at Dhaka University, while vowing to continue the protests.
Unrest could dissipate on Wednesday because it is Ashura, an Islamic holy day, in the predominantly Muslim country of about 175 million people.
The student protests began last week after the High Court in June reinstated a quota that reserves 30% of civil service jobs for relatives of those who fought in the 1971 war that resulted in Bangladesh’s independence.
Protesters claim the quota will benefit only those who support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the ruling Awami League, even as the government mounts a legal challenge to the High Court’s decision. The government ended the quota in 2018.
Hasina added to the unrest over the weekend by likening the protesters to “Razakar” traitors who had betrayed the Bangladesh side in the 1971 war by collaborating with Pakistani forces.
Student groups have been a source of dissent and political opposition in Bangladesh where Hasina’s government has been criticized by the United States and other countries over its human rights record.
BenarNews based its death toll on reports provided by hospital officials in several cities.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital received the bodies of two protesters and admitted more than 50 injured people following clashes between protesters and Bangladesh Student League members, according to Bachchu Mia, officer in charge of the hospital’s police post. BSL is the student wing of the Awami League.
BSL President Saddam Hussain has denied allegations of his group’s clashes with other students. He has alleged that agitators who want to revive Razakar politics are behind the unrest.
“None of our activists attacked anyone anywhere. But our leaders and activists have come under attack at various places,” he told BenarNews.
Rangpur death
The university’s proctor, Shariful Islam, identified the dead student as Abu Saeed, 22, a coordinator of the university’s quota reform movement.
Ishrarul Haque, information officer at Rangpur’s Medical College Hospital in Northwest Bangladesh, told BenarNews the hospital had the body of a student who was shot and was treating 16 injured people following a clash between police and students of Begum Rokeya University.
Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md. Moniruzzaman told reporters that students from various schools and colleges joined the agitating students and clashed with police.
“Many policemen were injured in the students’ attack,” he said.
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. General Mohammad Taslim Uddin, Chittagong Medical College Hospital director told BenarNews that three people died in the clashes in that city.
Two were brought in dead with gunshot wounds and another appeared to have been beaten to death, he said. One of the deceased was a 32-year-old furniture shop employee who was walking through a protest area, Uddin said.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters that no one would be exempted from the force of law if they cause destruction, bloodshed and disturbances such as blocking roads.
“Let them [the protesters] move off the streets without causing trouble. I urge them to wait for the court’s direction,” he said.
Attorney General A.M. Amin Uddin told reporters on Tuesday that the government has asked the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of the High Court’s reinstatement of the job quotas.
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