In Bangladesh, student protests continued on Thursday, July 18. The official death toll has risen to 39. At least a thousand people have been injured. The headquarters of the public television station and a police station were set on fire and the mobile internet network has been cut off. RFI was able to collect testimonies from students who demonstrated on Thursday against a system of hiring quotas in the civil service.
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” It’s a disaster, one of my relatives is dead. The police won’t let us go see him… » This student, who prefers to remain anonymous, took part in the first demonstrations in her town, 80 kilometres from the capital, Dhaka. Without beating about the bush, she denounces the violence of the police to Nicolas Roccajournalist in the International service of RFI. The police open fire, kill children going to school. They spare no one! The police shoot and throw Molotov cocktails! »
At least 39 people have died since the protests began. Police “non-lethal” weapons have been responsible for more than two-thirds of those deaths, according to descriptions provided to Agence France-Presse (AFP) by hospitals.
The bodies of three students and a rickshaw driver were taken to Kuwait Moitri Hospital in Dhaka. They were injured by rubber bullets “, its deputy director, Mahfuz Ara Begum, told AFP. More than 150 students are also being treated here. Most of them were hit in the eyes by rubber bullets. ” she added.
Dhaka’s Uttara Crescent Hospital has “ seven dead “, said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The first two were students with rubber bullet wounds. The other five had gunshot wounds. “, he said. A thousand others were treated in hospital for injuries sustained in clashes with police, the official said. Didar Malekin, of the online media Dhaka Timessaid Mehedi Hasan, one of its reporters, was killed while covering the clashes in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters overwhelmed riot police who fired rubber bullets at them. They chased police officers who took refuge at the headquarters of BTV. The angry crowd set fire to the station’s reception building and dozens of vehicles parked outside, a BTV official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Helicopters also rescued 60 police officers trapped on the roof of a Canadian university campus on Thursday, the scene of violent clashes in the capital, the Rapid Action Battalion said in a statement.
” This government must resign »
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled the country since 2009, condemned the move on Wednesday THE ” murder ” Some protestors in a televised speech and promised that those responsible would be punished regardless of their political affiliation. But it was not enough. The violence escalated as police again tried to disperse the protests.
Protesting almost daily since Monday July 15, students are demanding an end to the quota system, seen as a privilege for members of the regime, reports our regional correspondent, Côme BastinThe opposition sees this as discrimination and further proof of the authoritarianism of the head of government.
These quotas had been suspended in 2018 after initial protests. Their return in June 2024 has sparked a powder keg and signals the opponents’ distrust of the Prime Minister. This autocratic and undemocratic government must resign at some point.a 23-year-old business management student in Dhaka told RFI, speaking on condition of anonymity. I don’t know if these protests are a call to resign, but it’s the right thing to do. “.
The young man took part in the rallies in Dhaka on Thursday and spoke to RFI while he had taken refuge at someone’s house, from where he heard “ sounds of grenades and gunfire just behind ” the window. ” For now, our approach is defensive, not offensive.he says. The police and the army attack us. We just want to protest and when they want to push us, we defend ourselves.. »
Faced with the impossibility of organizing a peaceful gathering, the student continues, they were ” advised to [se] disperse and demonstrate where possible “. But ” before the beginning “, he denounces, ” The police fired tear gas. The government’s thugs are attacking everyone indiscriminately and relentlessly. ” he asserts.
UN calls for restraint
Residents reported nationwide mobile internet outages on Thursday, two days after internet providers cut off access to Facebook, the main platform for organizing the protest campaign. The few testimonies are sent via Wi-Fi.
Deputy Telecommunications Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said the government had ordered the network shutdown to avoid “ rumors, lies and misinformation “.
Alongside the police crackdown, protesters and students allied to the prime minister’s ruling Awami League also clashed in the streets with bricks and bamboo poles.
Amnesty International said video evidence of this week’s clashes showed that Bangladeshi security forces acted outside the law. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called on all parties to exercise restraint. We urge the government to ensure an environment conducive to dialogue. And we encourage the protesters to engage in dialogue to break the impasse. ” he told reporters. Violence is never a solution. »