The authorities in Bangladesh have decided to impose a curfew and deploy the military, says the Prime Minister’s press secretary, Nayeemul Islam Khan. The curfew will be introduced immediately on top of last week’s demonstrations, it says.
According to the AFP news agency, the demonstrations in the country have cost at least 105 people their lives. The figures come from the local hospitals. The news agency Reuters writes that the local police have not given a figure on how many were killed.
Since the beginning of July, students in Bangladesh have been protesting against a new quota system in the labor market. Among other things, the system means that almost every third vacant job in the state must go to relatives of war veterans from the country’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971. This has created deep dissatisfaction among the young people who experience high unemployment.
According to the media Independent Television, more than 700 people have been injured. That includes 104 police officers and 30 journalists.
A journalist from Reuters, who is in Bangladesh, says that it was possible to make a few phone calls on Friday, but that there was no access to the internet. Reuters also writes that the website of the prime minister’s office, the central bank and the police all appear to have been hacked. On the websites there is, among other things, a call to stop killing students and that it is no longer a protest, but a war.
Police in Bangladesh chose on Friday to ban all public demonstrations, processions and gatherings in the capital, Dhaka. It is the first time that the police have done this since the demonstrations began. However, this did not stop further demonstrations.
ritzau
Source: politiken.dk
