At least 32 people have died and over 2,500 are injured in Bangladesh amid escalating violence during student protests demanding reform of the quota system for government jobs, international media reported.
On Thursday, protests intensified when students set fire to the state broadcaster, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the network to address the unrest.
The protests, which have been ongoing for weeks, stem from a recent high court decision reinstating a quota system for public sector jobs. This decision overturned a 2018 move by Hasina’s government to abolish the system. The Supreme Court has since suspended the high court’s order and will hear the government’s challenge on August 7.
The situation worsened when Hasina refused to meet the students’ demands, leading to violent clashes between anti-quota demonstrators and members of her Awami League party. Police used rubber bullets, tear gas, and noise grenades, but were unable to disperse the crowds.
Authorities have responded by shutting down metro rail services in Dhaka, suspending railway services, and ordering a mobile internet blackout. The country is experiencing a near-total internet shutdown. Additionally, the police website was inaccessible, and the Awami League’s student wing website was hacked.
The protests have led to indefinite closures of schools and universities. Students are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves over half of government jobs for specific groups, including relatives of war veterans from the 1971 liberation war.
The quota system, introduced in 1972, has seen various changes, allocating positions to groups like freedom fighters’ families, women, underdeveloped districts, Indigenous communities, and the disabled. The system, abolished in 2018, had previously blocked 56% of government jobs under various quotas, leading students to argue it reduces merit-based job opportunities.
In response to the violence, Law Minister Anisul Huq has expressed readiness to negotiate with the protesters, while Prime Minister Hasina has called for patience until the Supreme Court’s verdict is delivered.
