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Bangladesh students, have returned to the street of Dhaka to continue demonstrations outside Dhaka University, demanding merit-based recruitment and condemning veterans’ job quota.
The protesting students defy a ban on public rallies after their violent clashes left dozens dead.
Symbolic funeral processions were planned to honor at least 25 people killed on Thursday, raising the total death toll to 31, according to BBC Bangla.
The exact number of casualties is difficult to verify due to an extensive communications shutdown, with mobile internet and telephone lines reportedly down.
Authorities imposed the shutdown in an effort to quell the protests, which demand the government scrap a job quota favoring families of veterans from the 1971 independence war.
In response, bus and train services have been halted, and large numbers of police in riot gear are patrolling the streets of Dhaka. Schools and universities across Bangladesh have been closed until further notice, according to local report.
Despite these measures, protesters vowed to continue their “Complete Shutdown,” blockading roads across the city.
On Friday, students chanting “merit, merit” and “we won’t let the blood that has been shed of our brothers go in vain” were joined by parents outside Dhaka University. They argue that the quota system is discriminatory and are calling for recruitment based on merit.
A march organized by Islamist parties was met with tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said the authorities decided to ban rallies to protect lives and property following Thursday’s violence. Police reported that 100 officers were injured and several vehicles parked outside government buildings were set on fire.
The unrest has spread beyond Dhaka, with 26 districts reporting incidents. Protesters who occupied and set fire to the state broadcaster BTV had vacated by Friday morning, though the channel had not resumed broadcasting.
A senior reporter told BBC Bangla that the newsroom, studio, and canteen were all damaged in Thursday’s fire.
