Nearly 100 dead, hundreds injured as anti-government protests resume in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Nearly 100 people were killed and hundreds injured as anti-government protests resumed across Bangladesh on Sunday. Protesters demanded the resignation of the prime minister, who accused protesters of “acts of sabotage” and of blocking mobile internet to quell the unrest.
The country's main Bengali daily, Prothom Alo, reported that at least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, were killed in the violence. The Channel 24 news outlet reported at least 85 deaths.
The military announced a new indefinite curfew from Sunday evening, including in the capital Dhaka and other divisional and district headquarters. The government had previously imposed a curfew in Dhaka and elsewhere with some exceptions.
Protesters have been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina since protests began last month when students demanded an end to government job quotas. The demonstrations turned violent and left more than 200 people dead.
As violence escalated again, Hasina said protesters engaging in “vandalism” and vandalism were no longer students but criminals, and that the people must deal with them with an iron fist.
The ruling Awami League said the demand for Hasina's resignation showed the protests were dominated by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the now-banned Jamaat-e-Islami party.
Also on Sunday, the government announced a public holiday from Monday to Wednesday. Courts were closed indefinitely. Mobile internet services were suspended, and messaging apps including Facebook and WhatsApp were inaccessible.
Mohammad Ali Arafat, deputy minister for information and broadcasting, said the service was suspended to prevent violence.
At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest forced the closure of schools and universities across the country and at one point led authorities to impose a shoot-and-run curfew.
The protesters called for “non-cooperation” and urged people not to pay taxes or utility bills and not to go to work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories remained open, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities struggled to get to work.
Protesters attacked Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College, a large public hospital in Dhaka's Shahbagh area, and burned several vehicles.
Video footage showed protesters destroying a prison van at the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court. Other footage showed police firing bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd. Protesters set fire to vehicles and the ruling party’s offices. Some were carrying sharp weapons and sticks, according to TV footage.
Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people blocking a major highway in Dhaka's Uttara district. Protesters attacked homes and destroyed a community welfare office in an area where hundreds of ruling party activists had set up shop. Witnesses said some crude bombs exploded and gunfire was heard. Twenty people were shot in the eastern district.
At least 18 people were killed in the northwestern Shirazganj district. The figure includes 13 police officers who were killed after protesters attacked a police station, according to Dhaka police headquarters. Another police officer was killed in the eastern Cumilla district, police said.
Clashes between Hasina supporters and protesters have left five people dead in Feni district in southeastern Bangladesh.
Asif Iqbal, the resident medical director at the government-run hospital in Penny, told reporters there were five bodies shot at the hospital. It was unclear whether they were protesters or ruling party activists.
According to Abu Hena, a hospital official, four people were confirmed dead after being rushed to a hospital in Munshigangji district near Dhaka.
Jamuna TV news channel reported violent clashes in at least a dozen districts, including Chattogram, Bogura, Magura, Rangpur, Kishorganj and Sirajganj, where protesters backed by the main opposition party clashed with police and activists of the ruling Awami League party and its affiliates.
The protests began last month when students demanded an end to the quota system that reserves 30 percent of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
As the violence reached its peak, the nation’s Supreme Court ruled that veterans’ quotas should be reduced to 5 percent, and that 93 percent of jobs should be based on merit. The remaining 2 percent would be set aside for minorities, transgender people, and people with disabilities. The government accepted the decision, but protesters continued to demand accountability for the violence caused by the government’s use of force.
The system also set aside jobs for minorities, people with disabilities and transgender people, but the ruling cut their total quota from 26% to 2%.
Hasina's government has accused the opposition and student groups of instigating the violence, which also included burning and destroying several state-owned facilities.
The secretary-general of the main opposition party, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, repeatedly called on the government to step down to end the chaos.
Hasina had offered to hold talks with student leaders on Saturday, but one coordinator refused and issued a single clause demanding her resignation.
Hasina reiterated her pledge to investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said she was ready to sit down whenever protesters wanted.
The protests have posed a major challenge to Hasina, who has ruled the country for more than 15 years and won a fourth term in January in an election boycotted by her main opponent.
