DHAKA – Police and government supporters clashed Thursday with student activists trying to shut down transportation across Bangladesh as part of dayslong protests over the allocation of government jobs, and media reports said 19 people died in the violence.
The new casualties Thursday would bring the overall toll to 25 dead since Monday when violence erupted at the prestigious Dhaka University in the capital. Violence pitting protesters against pro-government student groups and police soon spread to other cities. Six people had been reported killed on Tuesday, and hundreds more have been injured.
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Authorities did not immediately confirm figures for the deaths.
The 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 war of independence in 1971.
They argue the system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, and they want it replaced with a merit-based system.
Hasina’s party has accused opposition parties of stoking the violence.
The leading Dhaka-based newspaper Prothom Alo, which has a strong network of reporters across the country, said that by late Thursday night, they received reports of 19 deaths in Dhaka and elsewhere in the day’s raging violence. The country’s leading English-language Daily Star also reported 19 deaths on Thursday.
Prothom Alo said at least six people died in Dhaka’s Uttara area alone in the latest clashes pitting the protesters against security officials and ruling party activists. Thirteen others including a Dhaka-based journalist of an online portal died in other parts of the capital and elsewhere.
Protesters attacked the head office of state-run Bangladesh Television, breaking through a main gate and setting vehicles and the reception area on fire, a news producer and a reporter told The Associated Press by phone. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“I escaped by leaping over the wall but some of my colleagues got stuck inside. The attackers entered the building and set furniture on fire,” the producer said by phone.
He said the station continued broadcasting, though some Dhaka residents said they were receiving no signal from the broadcaster.
Meanwhile, the country was experiencing a near-total shutdown of internet services, Alp Toker, director of the London-based internet monitor NetBlocks, said on X.
The violence has continued despite a pending court decision on the legality of quota system. Hasina and Law Minister Anisul Huq urged protesters to await that decision, with Hasina saying she believes the protesters won't be disappointed by the court verdict. Huq said on Thursday that he would be willing to sit with protesters to discuss their demands.
Following the first deaths in this week's violence on Tuesday, the government asked universities across the country to close in hopes of quelling the student unrest, and police raided the main opposition party’s headquarters.
Protesters responded Wednesday evening by saying they would enforce a “complete shutdown” of transportation across the country apart from emergency services on Thursday. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party said that it would join those efforts.
Clashes continued Thursday as protesters tried to enforce the shutdown. In Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood, police chased hundreds of protesters after they blocked a road and chanted. In other locations, police fired tear gas and charged with batons to disperse protesters, who threw stones in response.
Police said protesters vandalized police cars and set fire to a traffic police box. Scores of people, including police officers, were injured in the violence, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said.
Protesters also blocked some major highways across the country, and local broadcasters reported violence in other cities including Chattogram and Khulna.
Traffic was thin on Dhaka’s usually clogged streets, while many malls closed. Offices and banks opened, but transportation was limited. Police set up checkpoints at the entrances to Dhaka University.
Salma Rahman, an official at a financial institution in Dhaka, said that she left her car at home and caught a ride on a motorcycle. “Our office has alerted us to stay safe on the streets, as there is fear that violence could happen during the shutdown.”
Hasina's government had earlier halted the job quotas following mass student protests in 2018. But last month, Bangladesh’s High Court nullified that decision and reinstated the quotas after relatives of the 1971 veterans filed petitions, triggering the latest demonstrations.
The Supreme Court then suspended the High Court’s ruling and said it would rule on the quotes by Aug. 7. The government has also appealed the High Court decision in the wake of the protests, according to the attorney general’s office.
Huq said the government was seeking an early hearing.
“I have already asked the attorney general to appeal in the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking early hearing,” he told reporters. Friday and Saturday form the weekend in Bangladesh. The court opens on Sunday.
Hasina urged protesters in a televised address Wednesday evening to “wait with patience” for the court verdict. “I believe our students will get justice from the apex court. They 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, around 400,000 graduates compete for 3,000 jobs in the civil service exam.
Hasina said there would be a judicial investigation into Tuesday’s deaths and vowed that those responsible would be brought to justice.
“Some precious lives have been lost unnecessarily,” she said. “I condemn every killing.”
U.N. Human Rights chief Volker Türk posted on X that all acts of violence and deadly use of force must be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable. Türk said 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’s headquarters late Tuesday. Detective Chief 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 bottles of gasoline in the raid.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a senior BNP leader, said the raid was a government attempt to divert attention from the protests.