Dhaka, Aug 4 (UNI): Over 20 people were killed and 42 hospitalised with gunshot wounds on Sunday as police clashed with protesters in Dhaka and other cities across Bangladesh who are demanding the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government over “atrocities” on students during last month’s anti-quota movement, reports said.
Violence flared up in the the South Asian nation as a non-cooperation agitation called by the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement began during the day triggering fierce clashes between the police and Awami League students wing Chhattra League on the one hand and the protestos on the other.
Protests against the Bangladeshi government’s quota system for public jobs escalated last month following violent clashes at Dhaka University. Protesters demanded an end to the extensive reservation quotas in government service.
Out of the 56% reserved posts, there was a quota of 30% for family members of the country’s 1971 liberation war veterans. The protesting students alleged discrimination and favouritism toward supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose party Awami League led the independence movement against Pakistan rulers.
In many places where rallies and other forms of protest took place, many of the demonstrators chanted slogans calling for the government’s resignation, local newspaper Daily Star reported. Mobile operators have received instructions from government regulators to shut down mobile Internet and applications, the report read.
On July 19, Bangladesh imposed a nationwide curfew to quell violence after over 100 people were killed and at least 300 police officers injured.
On July 21, the Bangladesh Supreme Court scrapped most of the quotas and ordered that 93% of public sector jobs should be recruited on merit, leaving 5% for the family members of the veterans of the country’s independence war. The remaining 2% is reserved for people from ethnic minorities or with disabilities.
In late July, Zaved Akhtar, president of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said that the Bangladeshi economy had lost $10 billion to student protests, curfews, and communication blackouts.
