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Bangladesh announced it would close all public and private universities indefinitely starting Wednesday after student protests against a government job quota system broke out this week, leaving at least six people dead and dozens injured.
Bangladesh has been wracked by weeks of protests over public sector job quotas, including a 30% reserve for families of freedom fighters who fought in Pakistan’s 1971 war of independence. That has sparked anger among students facing high unemployment, with nearly 32 million young people out of work or education in a country of 170 million.
Demonstrations intensified after Pakistani Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina refused to meet protesters’ demands, citing ongoing court proceedings, and called those opposing the quota “razakar,” meaning someone who collaborated with the Pakistani army during the 1971 war.
Thousands of anti-quota protesters clashed with members of the student wing of the ruling Awami League across the country this week in protests that turned violent, with police using rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Police said at least six people, including three students, were killed in Tuesday’s clashes. “We urgently call on the government of Bangladesh to immediately guarantee the safety of all peaceful protesters and to properly treat all the injured,” Amnesty International said in an article on X.
Authorities have deployed riot police and Border Guard Bangladesh paramilitary forces on university campuses across the country to maintain law and order.
Late on Tuesday, the University Grants Commission ordered all universities to close and directed students to evacuate campuses immediately for safety reasons. High schools, colleges and other educational institutions have also been closed.
Nahid Islam, coordinator of the anti-quota protests, said students would march on Wednesday, carrying coffins in solidarity with those killed in the protests.
“Many people have left the hostels for fear of being attacked by cadres of the Student Union (the ruling party’s student wing),” said a female Dhaka University student, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
“However, many students still remain there, especially in the boys’ hostel. Those of us who are currently living in the hostels will not leave easily.”
Police raided the headquarters of the main opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) in Dhaka around midnight on Tuesday and arrested seven activists, including the former leader of the party’s student wing.
Harun Or Rashid, head of the police detective department, said police seized 100 improvised bombs and bottles of petrol in a raid after a bus caught fire near the Bangladesh Nationalist Party office.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, condemned the raid and said the government was planting the seized items to discredit the anti-quota protests.
The protests are the first major challenge to Hasina’s government since she won a fourth consecutive term in January in an election boycotted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Experts blame the unrest on stagnant job growth in the private sector, which has made government jobs that offer regular pay raises and other benefits increasingly popular.
Currently, 56% of government jobs in Bangladesh are reserved under different quotas, including 10% for women, 10% for underdeveloped regions, 5% for indigenous communities and 1% for people with disabilities.
Source: Reuters
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