(VOR News) – Bangladesh has declared that it will shut down all public and private colleges indefinitely commencing on Wednesday, following the fatalities of student demonstrations against a quota system for government jobs this week.
At least six individuals have died as a consequence of the demonstrations, and numerous others have sustained injuries.
Demonstrations regarding public sector employment quotas have caused significant disruptions throughout South Asia over the past few weeks. A thirty percent reservation is included in these quotas for the family members of freedom fighters who participated in the 1971 War of Independence from Pakistan.
Students who are confronted with high rates of adolescent unemployment have become enraged.
There are nearly 32 million youthful Bangladeshis who are neither employed nor enrolled in another educational institution, out of a total population of 170 million.
Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, rejected the demonstrators’ demands.
Who cited ongoing court proceedings. She also referred to those who opposed the quota as “razakar,” a term that is reserved for individuals who are suspected of collaborating with the Pakistani army during the 1971 conflict. This prompted a heightened level of demonstrations.
This week, the demonstrations escalated into violence when thousands of individuals who were protesting quotas encountered members of the student branch of the Awami League party, the governing party in Bangladesh.
The police employed rubber pellets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
Authorities have reported that the confrontations that occurred on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of six individuals, including at least three students.
In a post on X, Amnesty International issued an urgent call to the Government of Bangladesh to ensure the safety of all peaceful protesters and the appropriate treatment of all injured individuals. “We seek to ensure that all those injured receive the appropriate medical care.”
The authorities have dispatched riot police and the paramilitary force known as the Border Guard Bangladesh to university campuses to guarantee the preservation of law and order throughout the nation.
Towards the conclusion of Tuesday, the University Grants Commission issued an order directing all universities to promptly close their doors and requesting that students vacate the premises for the sake of both safety and security. Additional educational institutions, such as colleges and high schools, were also shuttered.
Students will participate in processions on Wednesday, carrying coffins as a symbol of their condolences for the deceased, as per Nahid Islam, the individual responsible for organizing the anti-quota demonstrations.
A female student at Dhaka University, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, stated, “Many have fled the dormitories due to attacks by cadres of the student league (the student wing of the ruling party).”
” Bangladeshis have said this out of fear of being punished.”
“Certainly, there are still a significant number of students, particularly in the male dormitories.” Leaving the dormitories will be a challenging experience for those of us who are currently residing there.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the most prominent opposition party, was raided by the police in Dhaka at approximately midnight on Tuesday. Seven activists, including a former commander of the BNP’s student section, were apprehended during the operation.
Harun Or Rashid, the director of the detective branch of the police, reported that they were able to recover a total of one hundred rudimentary explosives and numerous bottles of gasoline during the raid that was conducted in the vicinity of the BNP office, following the setting of a bus on fire.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the senior joint secretary of the BNP, expressed his disapproval of the search and claimed that the government had positioned the items that were discovered to discredit the anti-quota demonstrations.
The protests are the first significant challenge to the administration that Hasina has been leading, as she was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January in an election that was boycotted by the BNP.
The sluggish growth of jobs in the private sector, which has made jobs in the government increasingly desirable, may be the cause of the unrest, according to the experts. These jobs offer regular wage increases and other benefits.
One percent of the positions in the Bangladeshi government are reserved for individuals with disabilities, ten percent are designated for women, ten percent are reserved for individuals from underdeveloped regions, five percent are reserved for indigenous groups, and fifty-six percent are reserved for women.
SOURCE: USN
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