Bangladesh: Protest Against Government Rages On
Dozens dead and hundreds injured, several public buildings burning. Television and communications are interrupted. A reporter was killed and 30 other journalists were injured in the clashes
The eyes of the world are fixed on Bangladesh, where mass popular protests, accompanied by violent clashes with the police, are heating up. The riots were started by university students who denounced the so-called “quota system for access to public services.” Protesters say the system “favors members of groups that support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” the 76-year-old leader who has been in power since 2009. The people of Bangladesh, one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia, demand that “exclusively merit criteria” should apply.
At the center of the contested system is the Awami League movement headed by Prime Minister Hasina, who led the fight for independence from Pakistan in 1971. 30% of positions in state and government agencies are reserved exclusively for veterans and families of veterans of that conflict.
Authorities in Bangladesh ordered internet and cell phone services cut off after protesters set fire to several government buildings and the state television headquarters in the capital Dhaka on Thursday, July 18. Several police stations were attacked. The protests with increasing violence over the week resulted in about forty dead (all or nearly all in the last 48 hours, including one reporter) and several hundred injured, including 30 journalists and 104 police officers.
The mass unrest has affected about 30 of Bangladesh’s 64 administrative districts. Police banned all gatherings in the capital Dhaka and threatened to “resort to the iron fist if the violent unrest continues.” In the current situation, the police will not be able to deal with mass protests alone, and the government, in an attempt to maintain order, has also called in the army to help.
