Credits: Sunstar.com
On Saturday, soldiers patrolled cities across Bangladesh to suppress escalating civil unrest ignited by student demonstrations. Riot police fired on protesters who defied a government-imposed curfew.
The violence has claimed at least 115 lives, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals. This crisis poses a significant challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, which has been in power for 15 years.
The government enforced a curfew at midnight, with the military deployed nationwide after police failed to control the widespread chaos. “The army has been deployed nationwide to control the law and order situation,” said armed forces spokesman Shahdat Hossain.
The curfew will be in effect until at least 10:00 am (0400 GMT) Sunday, reported private broadcaster Channel 24.
In the early hours of Saturday, Dhaka’s streets were nearly empty, with troops patrolling on foot and in armored vehicles. Later in the day, thousands gathered in the Rampura neighborhood, where police fired live rounds at the crowd, injuring at least one person.
“Our backs are to the wall,” protester Nazrul Islam, 52, told AFP. “There’s anarchy going on in the country… They are shooting at people like birds.”
Hospitals have reported a rising number of gunshot deaths to AFP since Thursday. “Hundreds of thousands of people” clashed with police across the capital on Friday, according to police spokesman Faruk Hossain. He reported that 150 police officers were hospitalized, and another 150 received first aid treatment. Two officers were beaten to death.
“The protesters torched many police booths… Many government offices were torched and vandalized,” Hossain added.
Students Against Discrimination, the main group organizing the protests, reported that two of its leaders had been arrested since Friday. A senior official from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was also arrested early Saturday.
Prime Minister Hasina, who was scheduled to leave for a diplomatic tour on Sunday, canceled her plans due to the escalating violence. “She has cancelled her Spain and Brazil tours due to the prevailing situation,” her press secretary Nayeemul Islam Khan told AFP.
The protests began with demands to end a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. Critics argue the system benefits children of pro-government groups that support Hasina, who has ruled since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January.
Rights groups accuse Hasina’s government of misusing state institutions to entrench its power and suppress dissent, including the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists. Since the first deaths on Tuesday, protesters have expanded their demands to include Hasina’s resignation.
“It’s not about the rights of the students anymore,” said business owner Hasibul Sheikh, 24, at the Rampura protest. “We are here as the general public now. Our demand is one point now, and that’s the resignation of the government.”
Pierre Prakash of Crisis Group told AFP that the lack of competitive elections under Hasina has led to growing public frustration. “With no real alternative at the ballot box, discontented Bangladeshis have few options besides street protests to make their voices heard,” he said.
Hospitals and police reported an additional 10 deaths on Saturday from clashes the previous day, bringing the total to 115 since Tuesday. More than half of the deaths this week were caused by police fire, according to hospital staff.
“The rising death toll is a shocking indictment of the absolute intolerance shown by the Bangladeshi authorities to protest and dissent,” said Babu Ram Pant of Amnesty International.
A nationwide internet shutdown imposed on Thursday remains in effect, severely hampering communication in and out of Bangladesh. Government websites are offline, and major newspapers, including the Dhaka Tribune and Daily Star, have been unable to update their social media platforms. Bangladesh Television, the state broadcaster, also remains offline after its Dhaka headquarters was set on fire by protesters.