Dhaka: New protests erupted in Bangladesh on Friday, leaving two people dead and more than 100 injured — the latest in a wave of unrest that killed more than 200 people last month in violent demonstrations following weeks of rallies over controversial reforms in the job quota system.
Over 2,000 protesters gathered in parts of the capital, Dhaka, to rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, some shouting “down with the autocrat” and demanding justice for victims. Police and dozens of students clashed in Dhaka’s Uttara neighbourhood. Security officers fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse stone-throwing protesters.
In the southwestern district of Khulna, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, injuring 50. A policeman died after the protesters attacked him, the Dhaka-based English-language Daily Star reported.
The paper said a man died and 50 were injured in the northeastern district of Habiganj after an arson attack on a local office of the ruling Awami League party. The man, an electrician, had gone to town to buy shoes when bullets hits him in the head, the paper said.
In the southeastern city of Chattogram, about 1,000 protesters held a procession after Friday prayers and set a roadside police guard post on fire, the report said.
The student protests against the government, which show no signs of dying down, started as a peaceful demonstration against a quota system allocating government jobs but morphed into an unprecedented challenge and rebellion against Hasina, whose 15-year-long dominance over the country is now being tested like never before.
Hasina, 76, was elected for a fourth consecutive term in January in a vote boycotted by her main opponents, making the result a near certainty even before votes were counted.
Since the violence erupted on July 15, authorities have shut off the internet and enforced a shoot-on-sight curfew. Schools and universities remain closed.
Dramatic videos of deadly clashes between police and protesters have shaken Bangladesh, as has the case of a six-year-old girl who was shot while playing on a rooftop while her father unsuccessfully tried to shield her from the firing.
The wave of discontent started with students, frustrated by shortages of good jobs.