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A new round of violence in Bangladesh left at least eight people dead and hundreds of others injured as student protesters clashed with police and ruling party activists on Sunday, officials and media reports said, as protests that began over a government jobs quota continued with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The protests began as students called for an end to a quota system that awarded 30% of government jobs to relatives of veterans, but escalated into violence that left more than 200 dead in July.
Authorities closed schools and universities across the country, blocked internet access and imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew. At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.
Protesters called for “non-cooperation,” urging people not to pay taxes and utility bills and not show up for work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, while commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to work.
Meanwhile, thousands of members of the ruling Awami League party and its associate bodies took to the streets for counterprotests, raising the risk of violent confrontations.
Protesters attacked Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major public hospital in Dhaka’s Shahbagh area, torching several vehicles.
In Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood, police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters who blocked a major highway. Protesters attacked homes and vandalized a community welfare office in the area, where hundreds of ruling party activists took positions. Some crude bombs were detonated and gunshots were heard, witnesses said.
Abu Hena, a hospital official in Munshiganj district near Dhaka, said two people were declared dead after being rushed to a hospital with injuries.
Jamuna TV station reported another six deaths in Bogura, Magura, Rangpur and Sirajganj districts, where the protesters backed by the country's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party clashed with police and the activists of the ruling Awami League party and its associated bodies.
Users complained of disruptions in mobile internet service on Sunday afternoon and many others faced problems accessing Facebook.
The protests began last month as students demanded an end to a quota system that reserved 30% of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971. As violence crested, the country's Supreme Court scaled back the quota system to 5% of jobs, with 3% for relatives of veterans, but protests have continued demanding accountability for violence the demonstrators blame on the government's use of excessive force.
The quota system also includes quotas members of ethnic minorities, and disabled and transgender people, which were cut from 26% to 2% in the ruling.
Hasina's administration has blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and now-banned right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party and their student wings for instigating violence, in which several state-owned establishments were also torched or vandalized.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of the main opposition party, repeated a call for the government to step down to stop the chaos.
Hasina offered to talk with student leaders on Saturday, but a coordinator refused and announced a one-point demand for her resignation.
Hasina repeated her pledges to thoroughly investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said that her doors were open for talks and she was ready to sit down whenever the protesters want.
The protests have become a major challenge for Hasina, who has ruled the country for over 15 years, returning to power for a fourth consecutive term in January in an election that was boycotted by her main opponents.
