Government urges Bangladesh’s universities to close after 6 die in protests

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh authorities urged all universities to close on Wednesday after at least six people were killed in violent protests over the allocation of government jobs.

Dhaka University, at the center of the violence, decided to suspend classes and close its dormitories indefinitely, a university official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The University Grants Commission asked all public and private universities to close until further notice, to protect students, but the request had no legal force and it was not immediately clear how many universities would comply.

Authorities said at least six people were killed in violence across the country on Tuesday as student protesters clashed with pro-government student activists and police, with violence reported in the capital Dhaka, the southeastern city of Chattogram and the northern city of Rangpur.

The protests began late last month, demanding an end to a quota that reserves 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence, but turned violent on Monday when protesters clashed with counter protests and the police at Dhaka University. , leaving 100 people injured.

The violence spread overnight to Jahangir Nagar University in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, and was reported in other parts of the country on Tuesday.

Isolated protests took place on Wednesday at Dhaka University and other parts of the country. Police were deployed on campus, while paramilitary border forces patrolled the streets of Dhaka and other big cities.

The quota system was temporarily suspended in 2018, following a court order that followed an earlier wave of mass student protests in 2018. But last month, Bangladesh’s High Court overturned that decision, angering students and sparking new protests.

The quota system also reserves government jobs for women, disabled people and members of ethnic minorities, but protesters have only sought to end the quota for veterans’ families.

Protesters argue that the fee for veterans’ families is discriminatory and maintain that it benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement. Ruling party leaders accuse the opposition of backing the protests. Protesters have said they are apolitical.

Hasina defended the quota system on Tuesday, saying veterans deserve the utmost respect for their sacrifice in 1971, regardless of their current political affiliation.

“Abandoning the dream of their own life, leaving behind their families, their parents and everything, they joined the war with what they had,” he said during an event at his office in Dhaka.