Bangladesh Quota Violence: Curfew Imposed, Deployed Military As 105 Killed In Protests

The Sheikh Hasina-led government in Bangladesh late friday imposed a nationwide curfew across the country and ordered the deployment of military forces to maintain order following days of deadly clashes over the allocation of government jobs. AFP reposted that at least 105 people have been killed in the clashes across the country so far, and more than 1500 were injured.

Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the ruling Awami party, announced the curfew in Bangladesh. He said, ” this would help the civil administration in maintaining the order.” The decision was taken hours after police and security officials opened fire and tear gas on protesters and banned all gatherings in the capital Dhaka on Friday.

Protesters and students are protesting in Dhaka and other cities against the system of reservation in government jobs, which also includes reservations for relatives of war heroes who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

In this quota, government jobs are also reserved for women, disabled people, and ethnic minority groups. Besides, family members of the heroes of Bangladesh’s 1971 freedom struggle are also given jobs. This system was suspended in 2018, preventing similar protests at that time. But last month the High Court of Bangladesh gave a verdict according to which the 30% quota for dependents of 1971 veterans was to be restored.

The protesting students support the 6% quota for women, disabled people, and ethnic minorities under this quota, but they do not want the family members of the veterans of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War should get its benefit. Therefore, protests against this decision started which have now turned into severe violence.

They argue that this is a quota system and that supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directly benefit from it. Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party led to the independence movement, and they wanted it to be replaced with a merit-based quota system.

Protesting students in the Narsingdi district of central Bangladesh stormed a prison on Friday and freed hundreds of prisoners before setting it on force, to aid deadly clashes, reports suggest. A senior police officer said, “The prisoners escaped from the jail and the protesters set the jail on fire. I don’t know the number of prisoners, but it must be in the hundreds.”

News television channels and state broadcaster BTV went off the air, although entertainment channels were normal. Some of them displayed messages blaming technical problems and promising to resume programming soon.

The official websites of the central bank, the prime minister’s office, and the police also appeared to have been hacked by a group branding itself the “THE R3SISTANC3”, according to Reuters.

Until Friday, 245 Indians have crossed over from Bangladesh at the Gede immigration check post in West Bengal till 8 pm. Another 202 Indian nationals, mostly students, crossed over via the Dawki check post in Meghalaya on Thursday. This check post was also used by some 101 Nepalese citizens and seven Bhutanese nationals to leave Bangladesh.

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