Anti-government protesters in Bangladesh plan march to capital
5 August 2024, 08:14
At least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, died in clashes on Sunday.
Anti-government protesters across Bangladesh planned to march to the capital Dhaka on Monday after a weekend of violence left dozens of people dead
The military imposed a curfew for an indefinite period and authorities cut off mobile internet in an attempt to stem the unrest.
At least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, died in clashes in the capital on Sunday, according to the country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper Prothom Alo. Hundreds more were injured in the violence.
The demonstrations began with students seeking to end a quota system for government jobs, but clashes with police and pro-government activists escalated into violence that left more than 200 dead.
That prompted protest and opposition leaders to call for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign in widening unrest across the country.
The military-imposed curfew came into effect on Sunday night and covered Dhaka and other divisional and district headquarters. The government had earlier imposed a curfew with some exceptions in the capital and elsewhere.
The government also announced a holiday from Monday to Wednesday with courts closed indefinitely.
Mobile internet service was cut off with Facebook and messaging apps, including WhatsApp, inaccessible.
Ms Hasina said the protesters who engaged in “sabotage” and destruction were no longer students but criminals, and she said the people should deal with them with iron hands.
The prime minister’s ruling Awami League party said the demand for her resignation showed the protests have been taken over by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the now-banned Jamaat-e-Islami party.
At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest has also resulted in the closure of schools and universities across the country, and authorities at one point imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew.
Over the weekend, protesters called for a “non-cooperation” effort, urging people not to pay taxes or utility bills and not to show up for work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh.
Offices, banks and factories opened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to their jobs.
The protests began last month as students demanded an end to a quota system that reserved 30% of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.
As the violence crested, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the veterans’ quota must be cut to 5%, with 93% of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining 2% will be set aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.
The government accepted the decision, but protesters have continued demanding accountability for the violence they blame on the government’s use of force.
Ms Hasina’s administration has blamed the opposition parties and their student wings for instigating the 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.
