Bangladesh imposes curfew and deploys military after deadly unrest. Over 105 killed in clashes amid protests against government policies
Bangladesh on Friday announced the imposition of a curfew and the deployment of military forces amid deadly unrest that has spread throughout the country and claimed the lives of over 100 people. Protesting students are demanding that the Sheikh Hasina-led government should scrap a controversial job quota system. Here are some of the top updates from the violence-marred country:
CURFEW IMPOSED
Hasina’s press secretary Nayeemul Islam Khan told AFP that the curfew would take immediate effect. Police in the capital Dhaka earlier took the drastic step of banning all public gatherings for the day — a first since protests began — in an effort to forestall more violence. “We’ve banned all rallies, processions and public gatherings in Dhaka today,” police chief Habibur Rahman said, adding the move was necessary to ensure “public safety”.
A police officer is beaten by mob during a clash between anti-quota supporters, police and Awami League supporters at the Rampura area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 18, 2024. REUTERS
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
The ban on all rallies and public gatherings did not stop another round of confrontations between police and protesters around the sprawling megacity of 20 million people, despite an internet shutdown. Telecommunications were also disrupted and television news channels went off the air. Authorities had cut some mobile telephone services the previous day to try to quell the unrest.
JAIL STORMED
Student protesters stormed a jail in the central Bangladeshi district of Narsingdi and freed its inmates before setting the facility on fire, a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know the number of inmates, but it would be in the hundreds,” he added. At least 52 people were killed in the capital on Friday, according to a list drawn up by the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Police fire was the cause of more than half of the deaths reported so far this week, according to an agency report.
Protesters shield themselves with a metal sheet during a clash with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 19, 2024. REUTERS
INDIANS RETURN HOME
India on Friday described the violent protests in Bangladesh as an “internal” matter of Dhaka but at the same time said it was closely monitoring the situation in the context of 15,000 Indians residing in that country. The 15,000 Indians including 8,500 students are safe, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
Official sources said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka is coordinating with local authorities to provide adequate security to Indian students wishing to return to India. Till 8 PM on Friday, 245 Indians including 125 students returned to India, they said, adding the Indian high commission also facilitated the return of 13 Nepali students. A student group, meanwhile, has organised a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Saturday in support of demonstrations in Bangladesh.
HUMAN RIGHTS OUTCRY
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the attacks on student protesters were “shocking and unacceptable”. “There must be impartial, prompt and exhaustive investigations into these attacks, and those responsible held to account,” he said in a statement. The capital’s police force earlier said protesters had on Thursday torched, vandalised and carried out “destructive activities” on numerous police and government offices.
Police fire teargas during a clash between anti-quota supporters, police and Awami League supporters at the Rampura area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 18, 2024. REUTERS
Among them was the Dhaka headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh Television, which remains offline after hundreds of incensed students stormed the premises and set fire to a building. Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP that officers had arrested Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, one of the top leaders of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
‘SYMBOL OF A RIGGED SYSTEM’
Near-daily marches this month have called for an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country’s 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. Critics say the scheme benefits children of pro-government groups that back Hasina, 76, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.
Hasina’s government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists. Her administration this week ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely as police stepped up efforts to bring the deteriorating law and order situation under control.
‘NATION-SCALE’ INTERNET SHUTDOWN
Students say they are determined to press on with protests despite Hasina giving a national address earlier this week on the now-offline state broadcaster seeking to calm the unrest. Nearly half of Bangladesh’s 64 districts reported clashes on Thursday, broadcaster Independent Television reported.
London-based watchdog NetBlocks said Friday that a “nation-scale” internet shutdown remained in effect a day after it was imposed. “Metrics show connectivity flatlining at 10% of ordinary levels, raising concerns over public safety as little news flows in or out of the country,” it wrote on social media platform X.
(With agency inputs)
