Since midnight local time, there has been a curfew throughout the country as a result of the violence of the past few days, where more than 100 people are said to have died, according to AFP.
The demonstrations were started by students at the country’s largest university in early July, and then spread to other institutions of higher learning and groups in the population.
The government of Bangladesh has responded with large numbers of police, military forces patrolling the streets – and by restricting the internet.
Dissatisfaction with quota system for government jobs
The protests are based on dissatisfaction with the reinstated quota system, which means that more than half of government jobs are reserved for selected groups, especially veterans who took part in the country’s liberation war against present-day Pakistan in 1971 and their family members.
The jobs are sought after, as unemployment is high and a large part of the population lives in poverty. At the same time, critics believe that the system favors pro-government groups.
UN summit: Deeply concerned about the violence
A spokesperson from the police states that over 300 police officers have been injured in the protests, at the same time a reporter from the news agency AFP testifies about how the police shoot sharply at protesters.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, states that he is deeply concerned about the violence, and calls on the security forces to respect human rights.
“The attacks on student demonstrators are particularly shocking and unacceptable,” he says in A statement.
New light on old contradictions
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled the country since 2009, has been criticized for leading developments in an increasingly authoritarian direction. Human rights groups have warned that the opposition is being silenced.
The protests have also opened old dividing lines between those who fought for Bangladesh’s freedom, and those who were accused of collaborating with the regime in Pakistan, writes AFP.
It is not the first time that the quota system has been criticized, which as a result of previous dissatisfaction was abolished in 2018. After a case in the Supreme Court, the system was reintroduced in June this year.