At least six people, including three students, were killed, and over 100 injured on Tuesday as protesters demanding reforms to the government job quota system clashed with police across major cities in Bangladesh, leading to the closure of schools and colleges.
Police and major news outlets reported two new deaths in Dhaka and Chattogram, adding to four deaths earlier in Dhaka, Chattogram, and Rangpur. Reports indicate at least three of the deceased were students, and the violence injured around 400 others as protests spread across major cities following a week of demonstrations that turned violent on Monday.
Authorities deployed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troops in four major cities after hundreds of policemen in riot gear were stationed on public university campuses nationwide. The government ordered the closure of schools and colleges until further notice for student safety.
An education ministry spokesman announced, “All high schools, colleges, madrasahs (Islamic seminaries), and polytechnic institutes under the Department of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education will be shut down until further notice, considering student security.”
The violence emptied the usually crowded capital, where unidentified individuals set two buses on fire after detonating Molotov cocktails. Sporadic clashes caused roadblocks, stranding thousands of people in the streets and at their workplaces.
Clashes erupted on Monday as activists from the ruling Awami League’s student wing confronted protesters, who argue the current quota system largely excludes meritorious students from government jobs. Demonstrators accused the ruling party’s student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, of attacking their “peaceful protests” with police support.
Protesters blockaded highways and railway routes in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Chattogram. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets as university students clashed with counter-protesters armed with sticks and bricks.
Rival student groups marched in key locations around Dhaka, throwing bricks at each other, bringing the city’s traffic to a near halt. Students from Dhaka University led the protests, demanding government job recruitment based on merit, reforming the existing quota system.
Protesters claimed they were staging peaceful demonstrations on Monday at two public universities in Dhaka when attacked by ruling party activists armed with sticks, rocks, machetes, and Molotov cocktails.
Currently, 30% of jobs are reserved for descendants of 1971 Liberation War veterans, 10% for administrative districts, 10% for women, 5% for ethnic minorities, and 1% for physically handicapped individuals. Annually, about 3,000 government jobs are available to nearly 400,000 graduates.
The student protest is the first significant demonstration against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government since her re-election in January. Hasina defended the quota for war veterans, emphasizing their sacrifices during the 1971 war and criticizing the protesters.
The quotas were halted in 2018 after mass student protests, but a recent high court order reinstated quotas for veterans’ families, sparking new demonstrations. The Supreme Court’s Appellate Division temporarily halted the high court’s order, urging students to return to classes while a decision is pending.
Protests continued to disrupt traffic in Dhaka. Amnesty International and the US State Department called for the safety of peaceful protesters, prompting a response from Bangladesh’s foreign ministry.
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