TOI World Desk
With nearly 32 million young people out of work or education in a country of 170 million, protesters are calling for a merit-based system.
Here are the top developments:
What triggered the protest?
The demonstrations started last month after the high court reinstated a quota system for government jobs, overturning a 2018 decision by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government to scrap it.
The system reserved 30% of jobs for family members of freedom fighters in the 1971 war for independence from Pakistan. At that time too, it triggered similar student protests.
But the Supreme Court suspended the high court order after the government’s appeal, setting August 7 as the next date to hear the government’s challenge.
However, the students stepped up their protest when Hasina refused to meet their demands, citing the court proceedings.
Communications disrupted
Telecommunications were widely disrupted in Bangladesh on Friday as a result of the violent protest leading to clashes. The authorities had to suspend mobile services on Thursday in an attempt to quell the unrest but the disruption spread across the country on Friday morning. Telephone calls from overseas were mostly not getting connected and calls through the Internet could not be completed.
The official websites of the central bank, the prime minister’s office and police appeared to have been hacked by a group calling itself “THE R3SISTANC3”.
“Operation HuntDown, Stop Killing Students,” read identical messages splashed on the sites, adding in crimson letters: “It’s not a protest anymore, it’s a war now.”
Another message on the page read, “Prepare yourselves. The fight for justice has begun,” adding, “The government has shut down the internet to silence us and hide their actions. We need to stay informed about what is happening on the ground.
Public rallies banned
Police banned all public rallies in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka — a first since the protests began — in a pre-emptive measure to stall violence.
“We’ve banned all rallies, processions and public gatherings in Dhaka today,” police chief Habibur Rahman said.
Meanwhile, the government has also suspended train services following the violent protests.
Indian high commission issues advisory for Indian citizens
India’s ministry of external affairs directed the Indian nationals in Bangladesh to follow the advisory issued by the High Commission of India in Dhaka, which says they must avoid local travels amid violent quota protests.
The MEA advisory stated that the High Commission and Assistant High Commissions will be available on helpline numbers for any assistance required by Indian nationals and also advised them to minimise their movement outside their living premises.