More than 20 people were killed and hundreds injured as student protesters clashed with police and ruling party activists in Bangladesh on Sunday, in what officials and media reports said was a new round of violence in the country.
The protesters are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. More than 200 people were killed in violence that escalated into unrest in July when students called for an end to the quota system for government jobs.
In response to the widespread demonstrations and violence, authorities closed schools and universities across Bangladesh, blocked internet access and imposed a curfew.
At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.
Protesters called for “non-cooperation,” urging people not to pay taxes and electricity bills, and not to go to work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories remained open, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to work.
Protesters attacked Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major general hospital in Dhaka's Shahbagh area, and set fire to several vehicles.
In Dhaka's Uttara district, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who blocked a major highway. Protesters also attacked homes and vandalized a public welfare office in the area, where hundreds of ruling party activists work. Witnesses said several improvised explosive devices were detonated and gunfire was heard.
Abu Hena, a hospital official in Munshiganj district, near Dhaka, said two people who were rushed to the hospital with injuries had been declared dead.
Jamuna television reported 21 other people were killed in 11 districts, including Bogura, Magura, Rangpur and Sirajganj where protesters backed by the Nationalist Party, Bangladesh's main opposition group, clashed with police and activists from the ruling Awami League and groups allied to it.
The protests began last month when students demanded an end to a quota system that reserved 30% of government jobs for families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. As violence escalated, the country’s Supreme Court reduced the quota system to 5%, with 3% of that for veterans’ families. But the protests have continued to demand accountability for the violence, which the government has called for excessive use of force.
The quota system also includes quotas for members of ethnic minorities, as well as people with disabilities and transgender people, which were cut from 26% to 2% in the decree.
Hasina's government has blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the now-banned right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party and their student wings for inciting the violence, in which several state-owned enterprises were also burned or vandalized. (in/ab)
