BBC Bangla, citing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s press secretary, reports that the Bangladesh government has decided to impose a curfew nationwide and deploy the army. The curfew announcement is expected soon as student protests against government job quotas continue to escalate.
On Friday, violence resulted in the deaths of three people as police tried to control the ongoing student protests despite a ban on public gatherings. Police used tear gas to disperse protesters in several areas, and Reuters journalists reported seeing fires and smoke rising from different parts of the capital, Dhaka, from a rooftop. Telecommunications were disrupted, and television news channels went off the air. Authorities had also cut some mobile phone services the day before in an attempt to calm the situation.
The Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo reported that train services were halted across the country due to protesters blocking roads and throwing bricks at security officials. Violence on Thursday spread across 47 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts, resulting in 27 deaths and 1,500 injuries. By Friday night, the total number of deaths from the protests had reached 105, according to AFP, though Reuters could not immediately confirm this number, and police have not released an official casualty count.
The US Embassy in Dhaka indicated that there were reports of more than 40 deaths and “hundreds to possibly thousands” of injuries across the country. The embassy described the situation as “extremely volatile” and noted that protests were spreading, with violent clashes reported throughout Dhaka.
The protests began over students’ dissatisfaction with quotas that allocate 30 per cent of government jobs to the families of those who fought for Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan. The unrest, the largest since Hasina was re-elected earlier this year, has also been fueled by high unemployment among young people, who make up nearly a fifth of the country’s 170 million population. Some analysts believe broader economic issues, such as high inflation and depleting foreign exchange reserves, also drive the violence.
The protests have highlighted old and sensitive political divides between those who fought for Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 and those accused of collaborating with Pakistan. The Awami League party, led by Hasina, has labelled the protesters as “razakar,” a term used for collaborators during the independence struggle.
International rights groups have criticized the suspension of services and the actions of security forces. The European Union expressed deep concern over the violence and loss of life, urging a peaceful resolution to the situation based on the rule of law and democratic freedoms.
India, neighbouring Bangladesh, said the unrest is an internal matter for Bangladesh and confirmed that all 15,000 Indians in the country are safe. Indian students in Bangladesh were returning home by road.
Violence related to the protests also occurred in London, where a large Bangladeshi community lives. Police had to intervene to stop clashes between groups of men in the east of the British capital.
On Friday, communication was challenging due to telecommunication issues. The internet and international phone calls were interrupted, and multiple Bangladeshi newspapers’ websites were out of date. Broadband and mobile data services were unavailable, and text messaging could not be sent. The state broadcaster BTV and news television channels stopped airing, while entertainment stations continued to operate as usual. A few media sources claimed that their outages were due to technical difficulties and announced that they would shortly start up again.
The official websites of the central bank, the prime minister’s office, and the police were hacked by a group calling itself “THE R3SISTANC3.” The group’s messages, displayed in red letters, included statements such as “Operation HuntDown, Stop Killing Students” and “It’s not a protest anymore, it’s a war now.”
