The students stood firm in their decision to protest against the civil service hiring rules as Bangladesh experienced a shutdown by students nationwide. This is on the backdrop of an olive branch that was offered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who promised the bereaved families justice for the seven demonstrators shot dead during the civil unrest.
Different measures have been taken by Hasina’s government to prevent the weeks-long rallies, including closing down schools and universities till further notice and increasing crackdown on the protest movements. Particularly, riot police limited themselves to using tear gas and rubber bullets to clear crowds; at the same time, P-G student protestors have been fighting back by throwing bricks and bamboo rods.
In her live speech, Hasina described the victims as ‘murdered’ and assured that ‘anyone involved in it, from ranking BNP member to the lowest BNP affiliate’ would be prosecuted.
However, blaming her for “murders and mayhem ‘Students Against Discrimination,’ the main student group behind the rallies, rubbished her words as mere lip service while expressing that her party activists are responsible. ”
The group has threatened to shut down operations in the country on Thursday by insisting that Bangladeshis close their shops and stay at home ahead of demonstrators’ planned protests later that day. The call was implemented throughout the capital, Dhaka, and is quite noticeable, as usually crowded streets were almost empty, and few cars were seen on the road.
Officials also noted that most cellular telephone users lost access to the Internet on Thursday, a day after Internet service companies shut off access to Facebook, which has served as the chief means of coordination by the protest movement.
The police on Thursday said that one more protester died the previous night, seventh in total; this man was an 18-year-old and was murdered by police weaponry.
Human rights organization Amnesty International has accused Bangladeshi security forces of using excessive force in violation of the laws in the recent clashes, having supported it by the videos.
The protests are mainly due to the demands to abolish the quota for government-paid jobs, which attendees of the Bangladesh ruling party say are unfairly populated. The escalations have already led to hundreds of injuries, and at least seven protesting people died, which shows the severity of the events.
