Renewed anti-government protests leave nearly 100 dead and hundreds injured in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Nearly 100 people were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday as renewed anti-government protests swept Bangladesh, with protesters calling for the prime minister to resign and the prime minister accusing them of “sabotage” and shutting down mobile internet in a bid to quell the unrest.
The country's leading Bengali-language daily, Prothom Alo, said at least 95 people, including at least 14 policemen, died in the violence. Channel 24 reported at least 85 deaths.
The military announced that a new curfew was in effect Sunday night indefinitely, including in the capital Dhaka and other divisional and district headquarters. The government had earlier imposed a curfew with some exceptions in Dhaka and elsewhere.
Protesters are demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation after protests last month that began with students calling for an end to a quota system for government jobs. These demonstrations escalated into violence that left over 200 dead.
As the renewed violence raged, 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 ruling Awami League party said the demand for Hasina's resignation showed that the protests have been taken over 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 would be closed indefinitely. Mobile Internet service was shut down and Facebook and messaging apps, including WhatsApp, were unavailable.
Junior Minister of Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat said services were cut to help prevent violence.
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, with authorities at one point imposing a curfew.
Protesters called for a “non-cooperative” effort and urged 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 protesters attacked the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major public hospital in the Shahbagh area of Dhaka, burning several vehicles.
Video footage showed protesters vandalizing a van at the Dhaka Metropolitan Court jail. Other videos showed police opening fire on the crowds with bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas. The protesters set fire to vehicles and the offices of the ruling party. Some carried sharp weapons and sticks, according to television footage.
In Dhaka's Uttara district, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people blocking a major highway. Protesters attacked homes and vandalized a municipal welfare office in the area, where hundreds of activists from the ruling party took up positions. Some crude bombs were detonated and gunshots were heard, witnesses said. To the east, 20 people were hit by bullets in the area.
At least 18 people were killed in the northwestern district of Sirajganj. That figure included 13 police officers who died after a police station was attacked by protesters, according to police headquarters in Dhaka. Another officer was killed in the eastern district of Cumilla, police said.
Five people died in the Feni district of southeastern Bangladesh when Hasina's supporters clashed with protesters.
Asif Iqbal, a doctor at a government hospital in Feni, told reporters that they had five bodies at the hospital, all hit by bullets. It was not clear if they were protesters or activists in the ruling party.
In Munshiganj district near Dhaka, four people were declared dead after being taken to a hospital, according to hospital official Abu Hena.
TV news channel Jamuna reported that violent clashes took place in more than a dozen districts, including Chattogram, Bogura, Magura, Rangpur, Kishoreganj and Sirajganj, where protesters backed by the main opposition party clashed with police and activists of the ruling Awami League party and its associated bodies.
The protests began last month when students demanded an end to a quota system that reserved 30 percent of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's 1971 independence war against Pakistan.
As the violence culminated, the country's highest court ruled that the veteran quota must be cut to 5 percent, with 93 percent of jobs to be awarded on merit. The remaining 2 percent will be set aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people. The government accepted the decision, but protesters have continued to demand responsibility for the violence they blame on the government's use of force.
The system also sets aside jobs for members of ethnic minorities and for the disabled and transgender people, whose quotas were cut from a combined 26 percent to 2 percent in the ruling.
Hasina's administration has blamed opposition parties and their student unions for instigating the violence, in which several state-owned facilities were also burned or vandalized.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the main opposition party, repeated a call for the government to resign to end the chaos.
Hasina offered to speak to student leaders on Saturday, but a coordinator refused and announced a one-point demand for her resignation.
Hasina repeated her promises to investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said she was ready to sit down whenever the protesters want.
The protests have become a major challenge for Hasina, who has ruled the country for over 15 years. She returned to power for a fourth consecutive term in January in an election boycotted by her main opponent.
