Bangladesh quota protests updates: Students vow ‘shutdown’ as 19 killed

This live page is now closed. Read more about the day’s events, here.

For context on today’s deadly protests, read more about what has fueled the unrest, here.

And learn more about who the protesters are, here.

This live page will soon be closed. Here were today’s top updates as anti-quota protests continue to rage in Bangladesh:

• At least 19 protesters have been killed today, with the majority in the capital, Dhaka. Others were killed in protests in nearby Narayanganj and the eastern city of Chittagong.
• The government has imposed restrictions on mobile internet access, with a media rights group decrying the “internet blackout”. Netblocks has reported a “near-total national internet shutdown”.
• Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Huq has said government officials are “willing to sit” for talks with protesters, who have rejected the offer, citing the high death toll.
• Clashes between protesters, police and pro-government student wings were continuing into the night, with the death toll expected to rise.

The internet networks have been down, there has been jamming. You couldn’t access social media without VPNs.

Now the main server station, the base station for the internet service provider, has been burned.

And the Bangladesh state television station is on fire, with some studio rooms on fire. We don’t know if there are casualties there.

Everything remains very volatile and intense.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says more than 25 journalists have been attacked and injured while covering the protests.

Earlier, we reported Hasan Mehedi, a journalist with the Dhaka Times, was fatally shot while covering the protests.

“RSF condemns this violence and calls on authorities to protect journalists and the #RightToInformation,” RSF wrote on X.

#Bangladesh: Internet blackout & over 25 journalists attacked and injured while covering student protests against job quotas. RSF condemns this violence and calls on authorities to protect journalists and the #RightToInformation. pic.twitter.com/ErRGgdqm34

— RSF (@RSF_inter) July 18, 2024

As we speak, there are clashes going on in different locations in the capital city, and elsewhere in the country.

There are six universities nearby where demonstrations have been taking place since the morning. And we can still hear gunfire, sound grenades, and all kinds of noises coming from that area. The students refuse to leave, however.

The dynamics of the demands have been changing. The protesters we spoke to said, look, the quota is one aspect – and the government has been conciliatory on that – but now the protesters are saying who is going to be accountable for the people killed?

They are saying they want justice, they want the police and pro-government student wings brought to justice before even considering sitting with the government. They say they will continue the movement.

UN officials have not yet responded to the latest violence from today’s protests.

However, yesterday, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said that “all acts of violence and use of force, (especially) resulting in loss of life, must be investigated and perpetrators held to account”.

“Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental human rights,” he said.

#Bangladesh: @volker_turk urges authorities to engage w/ student protesters. All acts of violence & use of force, esp. resulting in loss of life, must be investigated & perpetrators held to account. Freedom of expression & peaceful assembly are fundamental human rights pic.twitter.com/8eIrvd7OYO

— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) July 17, 2024

PM Sheikh Hasina has begun to use the loaded term “razakar” to describe protesters, and other ruling party officials have followed her lead.

The term refers to Bangladeshis who are seen as having collaborated with Pakistan during the 1971 war for independence.

“Why do they have so much resentment towards freedom fighters? If the grandchildren of the freedom fighters don’t get quota benefits, should the grandchildren of razakars get the benefit?” she asked on Sunday.

Some protesters have adapted the term into their slogans, in an attempt to nullify Hasina’s accusation, which they see as an effort to discredit the protest movement.

Students across Bangladesh took to the streets with mass procession in respose to PM Hasina's framing of quota reform protesters as heirs of Rajakar (Collaborators who aided Pakistan in '71)

Chant "Who are you, who am I? Rajakar, Rajakar" filling the air nationwide. #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/M157oZ7Qqx

— Mehedi Hasan Marof (@MehediMarof) July 14, 2024

Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq has previously stated that the Bangladeshi government is willing to engage in dialogue with protesters on the quota reform and is open to discussions on the matter.

However, Hasnat Abdullah, a coordinator of the movement, declared on Facebook, “We will not negotiate while standing on the sacrifices made.”

Another leader, Asif Mahmud, said, “Dialogue cannot be held under the threat of bullets. I would rather face death than accept this betrayal.”

“On one side, there are bullets, and on the other, there is a call for dialogue. We cannot sit down for dialogue while standing in the blood of our brothers,” he said.

Quota reform leaders have blamed the government for the violence, claiming that the movement was peaceful until the government intervened. They vowed to continue protesting until their demands are met.

“We will persevere with our protests until our demands are fulfilled, including reforming the quota system, opening up halls and campuses, ensuring university campuses are free from terror, removing political forces from campuses, and ensuring the punishment of those who have killed and attacked,” Mahmud said.

“The people of the country have united against those who sought to isolate us. No conspiracy can thwart our movement.”

Earlier today, junior Information Technology Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said that some mobile internet services had been temporarily suspended, citing “various rumours” and the “unstable situation created” on social media.

He said the services would be restored when the situation returns to normal. Internet providers had earlier this week cut off access to Facebook, which protesters had been using to organise.

Read more about the cuts to access here.

Out of the 19 confirmed to have been killed so far, four died during clashes outside of the capital Dhaka, according to police sources.

In Narayanganj, a city just southeast of Dhaka, two people were killed. They were named as 15-year-old Tahmid Tamim and 22-year-old M Imon Mia.

In Chittagong – officially known as Chattogram – in eastern Bangladesh, two more deaths were reported, including that of Mohammad Imad, an 18-year-old student at Potiya Government College Higher Secondary. The other victim was not named.

Bangladesh’s quota system was introduced in 1972 by the country’s first leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.

The system reserved a percentage of government jobs for children and grandchildren of people who fought in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, as well as other identified groups. All told, about 56 percent of the highly sought jobs were reserved for specific groups, with the other 44 percent considered “merit” based.

In 2018, the quotas were deemed illegal and abolished. But that was overturned on June 5, with the country’s High Court reinstating a quota that reserved 30 percent of government jobs for children of “freedom fighters”. The Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal to the change on August 7.

The current unrest has been fueled by the high rate of unemployment, with nearly a fifth of Bangladesh’s population out of work. Protesters have demanded a merit-based system that is fair to all.

The Bangladesh Ministry of Education announced the postponement of all Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent exams scheduled for July 21, 23, and 25.

HSC is the largest public examination for high school students. This year, around 1.4 million students are taking the HSC exam.

The decision was made due to unavoidable circumstances, according to the exam committee.

Exams scheduled for July 28 will proceed as originally planned, said the committee circular. Revised schedules for the postponed exams will be announced at a later date.

The student was named as Farhanul Islam Bhuyian by the Dhaka Tribune.

Bhuyian was killed during a clash with police and Awami League activists in Dhanmondi, the newspaper reported.

“The reason for the death is a piercing wound in the centre of the chest,” a doctor at City Hospital, where Bhuyian was taken, told the outlet.

“Today, we have received multiple similar kinds of injuries that are being treated now,” the doctor added. “Many female patients got injured by blunt weapons. We have received a 10-year-old patient who had 12 pellets inside the body.”

The rights group, citing witness testimony, video and photographic evidence, say they have confirmed “unlawful force by the police against student protesters”.

They said their analysis has confirmed the “continuation of a multi-year pattern of violence against protesters, allegedly committed by members of the Bangladesh Chatra League (BCL), a group affiliated with the ruling party”.

Witnesses told the rights group the protests were peaceful “before individuals from the BCL started attacking them on 15 July”, according to the report published on Wednesday.

Witnesses said the attackers wielded “rods, sticks, and clubs with a few even brandishing revolvers” at Dhaka University. Others tried to enter Dhaka Medical College Hospital on July 15, according to a video verified by the rights group.

Two videos verified by the group showed 25-year-old student Abu Sayed shot at close range by two police officers in the northwestern city of Rangpur. A forensic pathologist told Amnesty Sayed’s wounds were consistent with bird shot. The rights group said Sayed, who died from the wounds, posed no apparent physical threat to officers.