Widespread violent clashes in Bangladesh between law enforcement and students protesting against a government recruitment quota system killed 39 people in 48 hours, the headquarters of public television was set on fire on Thursday, and internet access was nearly cut off. completely.
Hundreds of protesters attacked police riot squads, who fired rubber bullets at them, and chased police officers who took shelter at BTV’s headquarters in the capital, Dhaka.
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An angry crowd set fire to the reception hall of the television network and dozens of vehicles parked in front of the building.
39 people have died during protests across Bangladesh in clashes between student protesters and police that have gripped the country for nearly a month.
Earlier today, the countries main state broadcaster, Bangladesh TV, in Dhaka was set on fire after riot police had retreated… pic.twitter.com/AOR2ELVkTh
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— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 18, 2024
“The fire has not been extinguished (…) Our broadcast has been interrupted for the time being,” said a public television executive, according to which the staff managed to be quickly removed from the building and are safe.
In her speech that was broadcast live on television, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – re-elected to office earlier this year, after elections that were characterized as a sham by the opposition – condemned the “murders” of protesters the day before Wednesday and promised that the perpetrators would be punished, regardless of political identity.
But this was not enough. Violence escalated when police tried once again to disperse protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Bangladeshi community RIOT in London tonight over the political unrest in their home country of Bangladesh.
Hundred of men stormed a building in Whitechapel, London. pic.twitter.com/ozOED4XIq5
— Ahmed (@ahmedyehia___) July 18, 2024
“We demand (…) the prime minister to apologize to us,” said Bidisha Rimjim, an 18-year-old protester. “Justice must be served for our brothers who were killed” by law enforcement, he insisted.
At least 32 people, including the journalist, lost their lives yesterday alone. The deaths added to the seven recorded earlier this week, according to an AFP tally based on data released by hospitals in the southeast Asian country.
Two-thirds of the deaths were due to police use of “non-lethal” weapons, the data revealed.
Fresh riots erupted in Bangladeshi cities during the day as riot squads tried to disperse and push back protesters who formed human chains to block roads.
1: Riots continue in Bangladesh after the Bangladesh High Court reinstated the quota system for government jobs.
2: There were already clashes between police and demonstrators in Bangladesh yesterday. pic.twitter.com/n6i2ROqCrh
In the capital, helicopters yesterday rescued 60 police officers who were trapped on the roof of a building on the site of a Canadian university — the campus became the scene of fierce clashes — the emergency response unit said in a statement.
Protesters also set fire to about ten vehicles outside the national disaster management agency building in Dhaka.
“We have seven dead here,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity at the capital’s Uttara Crescent Hospital. “The first two were students, with injuries from plastic bullets. The remaining five have injuries from real bullets,” he clarified.
Some 1,000 people were admitted to hospitals with injuries sustained during the clashes with the police, he added, stressing that many were hit by plastic bullets.
Didar Malekin of the Dhaka Times news website told AFP that the outlet’s reporter, Mehdi Hasan, was killed while covering events in the capital.
Participants in the protests, which have been daily for days, are demanding an end to the quota system in public employment: it benefits, they say, the children of members of organizations that support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, in power in Bangladesh since 2009.
Mubashar Hasan, an expert on Asian country affairs at the University of Oslo in Norway, observes that the protests have now transformed into an expression of generalized dissatisfaction with power and with Ms. Hasina personally.
The protesters are now mobilizing “against the repressive nature of the state”, he explained. “They question Hasina’s leadership, they accuse her of clinging to power by force” and “the students describe her as the head of a dictatorship”.
The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, appealed to all parties to show restraint.
“We urge the government to guarantee an environment conducive to dialogue. And we urge the protesters to engage in dialogue to end the deadlock,” he told reporters. “Violence is never a solution.”
“Real-time” data shows that there is now “almost complete” internet blackout in Bangladesh, specialist organization NetBlocks reported via X.
The outage followed the blocking of “access to social networking sites” and the restriction of “mobile data services”, key tools of the protest organizers, he said.
The websites of the home and foreign ministries, as well as those of the Dhaka Tribune and Daily Star newspapers, were unavailable last night.
Undersecretary for Telecommunications Zunaid Ahmed Palak confirmed that authorities had ordered internet access to be shut down to prevent the spread of “rumours, lies and misinformation”.
In addition to the police repression, demonstrators and students of the youth organization of Prime Minister Hasina’s party, the People’s League (Awami League), were involved in clashes with stones, bricks, bats…
Amnesty International emphasizes that videos from this week’s incidents document that Bangladeshi security forces used unlawful force.
The riots in Bangladesh have a background of high youth unemployment and the cost of living crisis. Almost a fifth of the 170 million inhabitants are plagued by unemployment, while recently the prices of absolutely necessary goods have skyrocketed.
Source: www.zougla.gr
