DHAKA, Bangladesh — People stayed home and many shopping malls closed their doors Thursday morning in Bangladesh’s capital as protesters tried to impose a “total lockdown” after days of student protests. crashing violently with the police and student activists backed by the ruling party.
Traffic was light on Dhaka’s usually congested streets. Offices and banks opened, but travelers complained that transportation was limited.
Salma Rahman, an official at a financial institution in Dhaka, said she left her car at home and went for a motorcycle ride. “Our office has alerted us to stay safe on the streets as there are fears there may be violence during the lockdown.”
Students have been demonstrating for weeks against a quota system for government jobs that they say favors allies of the ruling party, but protests have intensified since violence broke out on the Dhaka University campus on Monday. Six people died amid protests on Tuesday, prompting the government to They ask universities across the country to close. and the police to raid the headquarters of the main opposition party.
Violence continued on Wednesday night in Dhaka. Traffic was stopped on a major highway when police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, who set fire to a toll booth, blocked streets and detonated explosives, Somoy TV reported.
Other media outlets said dozens of people were injured during the hours of violence.
On Thursday morning, with classes suspended and dormitories closed, students near Dhaka’s BRAC University clashed with police, who fired tear gas.
Police set up checkpoints at the entrances to Dhaka University.
On Wednesday night, protesters announced they would impose “a complete shutdown” across the country on Thursday in response to continued attacks by security officials on campus protesters. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party said it would do everything possible to make the closure a success.
Protesters are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves up to 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence. They argue the system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinawhose Awami League party led the independence movement, and they want to replace it with a merit-based system.
Hasina’s government suspended the fees after massive student protests in 2018. But last month, Bangladesh’s High Court overturned that decision and reinstated the fees after relatives of 1971 veterans filed petitions, triggering the latest demonstrations. The Supreme Court then stayed the High Court ruling and is expected to rule on August 7. The government also separately appealed the High Court decision in the wake of the protest, according to the attorney general’s office.
“I ask everyone to wait patiently until the verdict is delivered,” Hasina said in a televised speech Wednesday night. “I believe our students will get justice from the high court. “You will not be disappointed.”
While job opportunities have expanded in Bangladesh’s private sector, many people prefer government jobs because they are stable and well-paid. Each year, some 400,000 graduates compete for 3,000 jobs in the civil service exam.
Hasina said there would be a judicial inquiry into Tuesday’s deaths and promised those responsible would be brought to justice.
“Some precious lives have been unnecessarily lost,” he said. “I condemn every murder.”
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said in a post on social media platform X that all acts of violence and deadly use of force must be investigated and perpetrators held accountable. Türk said that freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental human rights.
Bangladesh’s ruling party blamed the BNP for the chaos and Dhaka police raided the party headquarters on Tuesday night. Senior Detective Harun-or-Rashid said police arrested seven members of the party’s student wing and said detectives found 100 crude bombs, 500 wooden and bamboo sticks and five to six petrol bottles in the raid.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a senior BNP leader, said the raid was an attempt by the government to divert attention from the protests.
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