Thirteen lives were lost in Dhaka on Thursday as clashes erupted between thousands of students wielding sticks and stones and armed police, marking the deadliest day yet in Bangladesh’s ongoing protests against a government job quota policy.
In response to the escalating unrest, authorities partially suspended mobile internet services to curb the violence, which has claimed a total of 19 lives this week. Among the casualties on Thursday were a bus driver critically injured by a gunshot to the chest, a rickshaw-puller, and three students, as confirmed by officials to Reuters.
Witnesses reported hundreds injured as police used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who set vehicles, police stations, and other establishments ablaze.
The nationwide protests, fueled by high youth unemployment rates affecting nearly a fifth of Bangladesh’s 170 million people, represent the largest demonstrations since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent re-election. At the heart of the unrest is opposition to a government policy reserving 30% of public sector jobs for descendants of those who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war for independence from Pakistan.
Although Hasina’s administration abolished the quota system in 2018, a High Court ruling reinstated it last month. The government appealed this decision, which was temporarily suspended by the Supreme Court pending further review on August 7.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for restraint from all parties involved and urged authorities to investigate instances of violence and hold perpetrators accountable. “Violence can never be the solution,” emphasized UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Dhaka witnessed at least 11 deaths on Thursday, with the capital’s main university campus a focal point of nationwide protests, although demonstrations also intensified in other areas of the city.
Law Minister Anisul Huq expressed the government’s readiness to engage in dialogue with protesters, but demonstrators rejected talks, insisting that discussions and the use of force were incompatible. “We cannot negotiate over dead bodies. There were opportunities for dialogue before,” stated protest coordinator Nahid Islam.
Despite mounting pressure, Hasina has maintained that the job policy remains a matter for the courts to decide. In response to the escalating unrest, all public and private universities were indefinitely closed starting Wednesday, with heightened security measures implemented on campuses to maintain order.
In other news – Armed robbery targets Beitbridge-Bound bus passengers
Five individuals suspected of armed robbery, posing as passengers, assaulted a Blue Circle bus heading towards Beitbridge in the early hours of yesterday morning. The incident took place at approximately 2:30 am near the Neshuro turn-off within Mwenezi district, approximately 165 km north of Beitbridge.
The robbers had boarded the bus in Harare and later requested to disembark near Neshuro, where an accomplice awaited them. Upon stopping the bus, the assailants, armed with a pistol and knives, coerced the driver to veer off the highway. They proceeded to threaten the passengers, demanding their money and valuables under threat of violence. Read More
