Students on the streets against reservation in Bangladesh, curfew imposed after 105 deaths

The Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh imposed a nationwide curfew late Friday night and ordered the deployment of military forces to maintain order after several days of clashes over government jobs. At least 105 people have been killed in clashes in Bangladesh so far. More than 1,500 people have been injured. Regarding the announcement of curfew in Bangladesh, it has been said that this is being done to help the civil administration maintain order. This decision came a few hours after police and security officials opened fire and fired tear gas on protesters in the capital Dhaka on Friday and banned all gatherings. Protesters, mostly students, are protesting in Dhaka and other cities against the reservation system in government jobs.

They argue that the system is discriminatory and benefits Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s supporters and want it to be replaced with a merit-based system. However, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has defended the quota system, saying that war veterans should receive the highest honour for their contribution, regardless of their political affiliation. The protests took a sinister turn on Thursday. The violence forced authorities to shut down the metro rail inside the capital and train services to and from Dhaka. The government also ordered the mobile internet network to be shut down in many parts of the country. Schools and universities have been closed indefinitely. On Friday, the websites of many newspapers in Bangladesh were facing problems and were not updating and social media was also down.

News television channels and state broadcaster BTV went off air, although entertainment channels were normal. Some of them showed messages blaming technical problems and promising to resume programs soon. According to Reuters, the official websites of the central bank, the prime minister’s office and the police were also hacked.

Student protesters also stormed a prison in Narsingdi district and freed inmates before setting the jail on fire. “I don’t know how many prisoners were (freed) but it could be in the hundreds,” a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, India on Friday declined to comment on the violent protests in Bangladesh but said that the nearly 15,000 Indian nationals living in the neighbouring country are all “safe and sound”. “We consider it an internal matter of Bangladesh,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a regular media briefing while responding to questions on India’s view on the violent protests.

As of Friday, 245 Indians had crossed the border from Bangladesh through the Gede immigration check post in West Bengal till 8 pm. On Thursday, another 202 Indian nationals, mostly students, crossed the border through the Dawki check post in Meghalaya. The check post was also used by around 101 Nepali nationals and seven Bhutanese nationals to leave Bangladesh.