This was the first time the government officially acknowledged the death toll from the student protests over the quota system…reports Asian Lite News
Bangladesh observed a national day of mourning on Tuesday, with special prayers held nationwide for the 150 people killed in recent anti-government violence. The day included calls for the unconditional release of six coordinators of the quota reform movement within 24 hours. This was the first time the government officially acknowledged the death toll from the student protests over the quota system, which had escalated into widespread unrest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s policies.
Protests began in universities and quickly spread, leading to widespread violence and the deployment of the army. While unofficial reports claimed over 180 deaths, the government confirmed 150 fatalities. The violence also resulted in injuries to thousands, including police officers, and damage to government buildings. Additionally, four journalists were killed, and 224 media personnel were injured, with 67 in critical condition.
Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain announced the national day of mourning, with officials and citizens wearing black badges. Special prayers were conducted in mosques, temples, churches, and pagodas across the country. The Foreign Ministry also held a prayer session, seeking peace for the deceased and recovery for the injured.
Civil society members and university teachers and students demanded the release of detained coordinators and transparency in investigating the violence. Despite the government’s mourning call, some students and activists rejected it, using red as a symbol of protest on social media. The protests, sparked by the Supreme Court’s order for significant quota reform, have led to a new policy keeping only 7% of jobs reserved, down from 56%, with 93% now open to merit-based candidates. Public and private offices are set to resume normal operations, following a curfew and general holiday imposed during the unrest.
Demonstrations held across nation
Quota reform protesters held protests across Bangladesh, including in Dhaka and Chattogram cities, on Monday. However, law enforcers dispersed protesters in many places and detained at least 80, Bangladesh-based The Daily Star reported.
Ruling party men also stopped the protesters from holding demonstrations in many places. Students from different universities and colleges held protests against the “detention of six coordinators of the quota reform protest by the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and forcing them to issue a statement on ending protests.
Police detained at least 10 students after breaking up a protest by some 100 students in Chattogram’s Jamal Khan area on Monday afternoon.
According to witnesses, university and college students reached the Cheragi intersection at around 3 pm (local time) to hold a rally. A large number of police personnel, Border Guard Bangladesh, Bangladesh’s Armed Police Battalion, and army personnel were deployed in the area.
Tensions flared after 100-150 leaders and activists of the Jubo League and Chhatra League, led by Chattogram City Corporation Ward-21 Councillor Saibal Das Sumon, reached the site and verbally abused the protesters.
At one stage, the Jubo League and Chhatra League men beat up two students and handed them over to police. The police used truncheons as some students tried to free the detainees. Protesters then reached near the Kadam Mubarak mosque and shouted slogans.
Police fired stun grenades and teargas canisters at protesters at around 4 pm (local time). Three police personnel and a journalist were injured in the incident, according to The Daily Star report.
Another group of protesters threw brick chunks at police near Andarkilla Shahi Jame Masjid at around 5:00 pm (local time), prompting law enforcers to fire rubber bullets and teargas at them.
Deputy Commissioner (south) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police, Mostafizur Rahman, said police took action as all gatherings and protests were banned during the halt in curfew. Law enforcers detained at least 70 people from different areas of Dhaka.
On Sunday, Abdul Kader, a coordinator of the quota reform protest, announced on social media that they would hold demonstrations in eight places in Dhaka, including Science Lab, Gate-8 of North South University, Jatiya Press Club, BNS Centre in Uttara, Mirpur-10, ECB Chattar in Mirpur, Rampura, and Mohakhali.
Police detained at least 10 protesters from the Mirpur-10 intersection, two from Purana Paltan, 10 from Uttara, 10 from in front of Star Kabab in Dhanmondi and six from Badda.
Two security staffers of a private university in Bashundhara Residential Area, who requested anonymity, said, “Students were standing in front of gates 1, 2 and 5 of the university since 10:00 am. Police detained at least 15 of them and got them on to three police vans until 1:30 pm.”
Students at Jahangirnagar University staged a protest calling for the unconditional release of the coordinators of the quota reform protest and the other detainees. Several JU teachers expressed solidarity with the demonstrators.
Several hundred students of Rajshahi University blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway in Rajshahi from 12:20 pm (local time) to 1:00 pm (local time), protesting the detention of the six coordinators of the quota reform movement. They shouted slogans calling for the deaths of their fellow students and for those responsible for the deaths to be held accountable.
At least 15 students were injured after Chhatra League activists at Barishal University allegedly attacked protesters near the university’s administrative building at around 2 pm (local time).
Sujoy Subho, one of the injured, said some 40-50 Chhatra League men, armed with sticks, targeted students when they held discussions regarding their next course of action. Students of Government Brojomohun (BM) College staged a protest in Barisal City’s Nathullabad Central Bus Terminal area.
Students blocked the Dhaka-Noakhali highway in front of Noakhali Zilla School in Noakhali from 2 pm (local time) for three hours. More than 200 students took out a procession in Thakurgaon with black flags calling for justice for the recent killings of students.
Police broke up a demonstration by students in Mymensingh’s Firoz-Jahangir Chattar. Pro-Awami League men, with sticks and iron rods, stopped around 60 Comilla University students from moving towards the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in Cumilla. Later, the students held demonstrations outside the university at around 3 pm (local time), according to The Daily Star report.
A group of students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology held a protest at the main entrance to the university in Sylhet at 3 pm (local time) and later took out a procession. Cultural platform Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi could not hold a stage rally in front of the Jatiya Press Club yesterday afternoon as the law enforcers cordoned off the area.
Meanwhile, some coordinators of the quota reform protest rejected the government’s call for nationwide mourning for those killed in the recent violence. Instead, they called on students of educational institutions and people to cover their faces with red clothes and share their pictures online today, The Dail Star reported.
They made the announcement through a press release, signed by Mahin Sarker, a coordinator of the Anti-discriminatory Student Movement. The statement said, “We would like to tell the government that no movement in the history of Bengal could be suppressed by firing at students. Immediately accept our nine-point demand and bring stability to the country.”
The demands of quote reform coordinators include an apology from Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the resignations of Bangladesh’s Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, State Minister for Post, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak. (ANI)
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