Bangladesh quota protests updates: Students vow to continue demonstrations

The news on the Supreme Court’s ruling to scale back job quotas is here. For on-the-ground reporting from Bangladesh, check this story out.

The latest video report from the capital Dhaka is here.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of the latest developments:

• Bangladesh’s top court scaled back a controversial job-quota system in a partial victory for student protesters after a week of deadly demonstrations.
• Student leaders pledged to keep the protests going until all those detained are freed and the officials who ordered the deadly crackdown resign, with calls for a nationwide shutdown on Monday.
• Soldiers are patrolling cities across Bangladesh with an indefinite curfew imposed and a communications blackout drastically restricting the flow of information to the outside world.
• The death toll from a week of violent unrest remains unclear, with news reports suggesting more than 100 people have been killed – the vast majority of them demonstrators.
• The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina condemned opposition politicians for “creating anarchy”, with at least 70 arrests made among the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
  

  

Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying “travel to Bangladesh is currently not recommended” after the spate of violence erupted last week.

It noted the death toll of more than 100 and highlighted the communications shutdown throughout the South Asian country. “Further restrictions and deterioration of the situation are to be expected,” it said.

Those in Bangladesh should “be sure to follow the current curfew and stay in a safe place”, the ministry noted, adding “Take advantage of any relaxation of the curfew to stock up on supplies for several days. Avoid demonstrations and large gatherings of people as much as possible.”

India’s Ministry of External Affairs says about 4,500 of its nationals have arrived home after fleeing the violence in Bangladesh.

The ministry “has also been coordinating with relevant Indian authorities to ensure a smooth passage for our citizens at land ports and airports”, it said in a statement.

It added that 500 students from Nepal, 38 from Bhutan and one from the Maldives have also arrived in India.

“The High Commission and our Assistant High Commissions continue to be in regular touch with local authorities for the safety and security of Indian nationals,” the ministry said.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – For three days, Ahsan Habib, a private university student, was on the streets protesting what he says was a “violent assault” by police and ruling party supporters against common people such as himself.

“We were fighting against bullets with brick chunks,” said Habib, who joined protests in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area on Tuesday.

“There were not only police but also people from the ruling [Awami League] party who were wearing helmets and were firing live bullets towards us.”

Read the full story here. 

The student leaders have not backed down from their protests and have actually called for a nationwide shutdown on Monday.

They will also hold funeral prayers all across the country for those killed over the past few days. There have been casualties even today.

The government has condemned opposition politicians for “creating anarchy”. At least 70 arrests have been made among the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

The internet remains blocked, telephones aren’t working properly, and television is heavily censored. We’ll see how things play out over the next few days and weeks.

Taqbir Huda, a South Asia researcher with Amnesty International, says the situation in Bangladesh remains unclear because of the communications blackout, which could lead to the spread of misinformation.

“An internet shutdown will only make things worse,” Huda told Al Jazeera.

Judging by the “very conservative death toll” being reported, the demonstrations are some of the worst ever in the South Asian nation, he added.

“It is unprecedented in the modern history of Bangladesh for such a deadly protest to have taken place. But there’s no way to get more information,” Huda said.

He noted that family members of at least two student leaders say they were picked up by police, but it’s impossible to say what has happened to them. “They still don’t know their whereabouts. Officials deny having them in custody. This is something we’ve seen in the past as well.”

Hundreds of foreign students are leaving Bangladesh after deadly violence broke out last week. Officials from India and Nepal said they’re assisting with the repatriation of their citizens. Nearly 800 Indian students returned home as of Saturday.

Nepalese student Shivam Kumar Shah, 24, said the situation quickly spiralled out of control on campuses and on the streets.

“They were in a mood to kill each other. That’s scary,” he said at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal after returning from unrest at his university in Dhaka. “A place to acquire knowledge and wisdom has turned into a battlefield. This is unfortunate.”

A telecommunications blackout has cut the country of 170 million people off from the rest of the world.

Rights group Amnesty International has denounced the communications shutdown.

“It is reckless to impede access to information during what has been a week of escalating violence and heavy-handed crackdown on student led protests across the country,” Amnesty said in a statement.

“Blanket shutdowns impact people’s safety, security, mobility, [and] livelihood while creating instability and panic, further undermining their trust in authorities. The ban must be urgently lifted, and all the people detained or arrested solely for exercising their right to protest peacefully should be immediately and unconditionally released.”

The situation in Bangladesh remains unclear, with a curfew imposed and telecommunications severed.

Local media reported scattered clashes earlier in the day between protesters and security forces.

Overseas telephone calls mostly failed to connect while the websites of Bangladesh-based media organisations did not update and their social media accounts remained inactive.

Student leaders said they’ll continue demonstrations until key demands are met after the Supreme Court ruled in their favour against a controversial job-quota system.

After the intensifying crackdown by security forces and amid the rising death toll, it remains to be seen whether the top court’s verdict on job quotas will mollify white-hot public anger.

What began as a protest against politicised admission quotas for sought-after government jobs snowballed last week into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure.

CIVICUS, a non-profit group that tracks civic freedoms around the world, last year downgraded Bangladesh to “closed” – the worst rating it could assign – along with China and Venezuela, following a crackdown on the country’s opposition members and supporters ahead of its national election in January.

“Rather than try to address the protesters’ grievances, the government’s actions have made the situation worse,” Crisis Group’s Asia Director Pierre Prakash said.

Many opposition party leaders, activists and student protesters have been arrested in the current crackdown, says Tarique Rahman, the exiled acting chairman of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Police arrested Nahid Islam, a leading student coordinator, on Saturday, protesters say. But the exact number of those held remains unclear. Demonstrators vowed to continue their protests until their colleagues are freed.

The protests turned deadly last Tuesday, a day after students at Dhaka University began clashing with police. Violence continued to escalate as police fired live rounds and tear gas and hurled smoke grenades to scatter stone-throwing protesters.

The situation remains “tense and volatile” as police have cracked down on protesters in different areas of the capital and other parts of Bangladesh, reports Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury from Dhaka.

“The government has been blaming the political opposition squarely for the damage and destruction of public property, accusing it of creating anarchy in the country,” said Chowdhury.

There have been at least 70 arrests among the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, he said, adding that the whereabouts of a student leader and a senior member of the opposition party are unknown after they were seized by police.

Authorities have denied that, however.

“This is a serious concern because Bangladesh has a record for extrajudicial killings and police picking up people without leaving traces,” said Chowdhury. “So there are lots of concerns within the community.”

The students leading the demonstrations against Bangladesh’s government are pressing for the release of those detained. Police, meanwhile, say they aren’t responsible for the disappearance of some protesters.

Business owner Hasibul Sheikh, 24, said the demonstrations are now more than just against the job quota system that was rolled back by the Supreme Court on Sunday.

“It’s not about the rights of the students anymore. Our demand is one point now, and that’s the resignation of the government,” he said.

The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been accused in the past of extrajudicial killings of opposition activists.

Here’s a look at the latest developments:

• Bangladesh’s top court scaled back job quotas for veterans of the 1971 war of independence to 5 percent, with 93 percent of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining 2 percent will be set aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.
• Student leaders pledged to press on with demonstrations until key demands are met including the release of those jailed, and the resignation of officials responsible for the deadly crackdown.
• Bangladesh continues to enforce a nationwide curfew to quash the student-led demonstrations with military personnel and police patrolling the largely deserted streets of the capital, Dhaka.
• Attorney-General AM Amin Uddin vowed to punish those who instigated violence during the protests “and take strict action against them”.
• Bangladeshi authorities haven’t disclosed any official numbers of those killed and injured, but at least four local newspapers reported that more than 100 people have died.

The demonstrations – the biggest since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was re-elected for a fourth successive term this year – have been driven by high unemployment among young people, who make up nearly one-fifth of the population.

About 18 million young people in Bangladesh are out of work.

High living costs sparked deadly protests in Bangladesh last year, months after it turned to the International Monetary Fund for a $4.7bn bailout as it struggled to pay for imported oil and gas because of dwindling dollar reserves.

Bangladesh continues to enforce a nationwide curfew to quash student-led demonstrations with military personnel and police patrolling the largely deserted streets of the capital, Dhaka.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan says the curfew will continue “until the situation improves”.

Dozens of people have been killed and several thousand injured. A nationwide internet blackout has drastically restricted the flow of information to the outside world.

Soldiers set up checkpoints on Saturday shortly after the government ordered a curfew to block the protests that sharply escalated last week.

Read the full story here.

Dozens of people were killed in demonstrations calling for an end to the quota system, which favours the children of fighters in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Students are also demanding justice for those killed in three weeks of protests.