Bangladesh Reels from Violent Protests: Government Buildings Torched, 100 Police Officers Injured
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Bangladesh experienced significant destruction on Friday following the deadliest day of ongoing student protests. Government buildings, including the Dhaka headquarters of Bangladesh Television, were torched by demonstrators, and a nationwide internet blackout was implemented.
This week's unrest has resulted in at least 39 deaths, with 32 occurring on Thursday, and the death toll is expected to rise as clashes continue across nearly half of the country's districts. According to a police statement, protesters engaged in "destructive activities" against numerous police and government offices.
Faruk Hossain, a spokesman for the capital's police force, told AFP that roughly 100 policemen were injured in the clashes yesterday. He added that about 50 police booths were set ablaze. The police statement warned that if the destruction did not cease, they would "be forced to make maximum use of law".
At least two-thirds of the deaths reported so far were caused by police fire, according to hospital staff descriptions given to AFP. On Thursday, clashes were reported in at least 26 districts, with more than 700 people injured, including 104 police officers and 30 journalists, as reported by Independent Television.
The ongoing protests, occurring nearly every day this month, demand an end to a quota system that reserves over half of civil service positions for specific groups, such as children of veterans from the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. Critics argue that the quota system benefits children of pro-government groups supporting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled since 2009 and secured her fourth consecutive election win in January in an uncontested vote.
Rights groups accuse Hasina's government of abusing state institutions to solidify its power and suppress dissent, including through extrajudicial killings of opposition activists. This week, her administration ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely as police intensified efforts to restore law and order. Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladesh expert at the University of Oslo, told AFP that the protests had become a broader expression of dissatisfaction with Hasina's authoritarian rule.
"They are protesting against the repressive nature of the state," he said, noting that students are labeling her a dictator. Despite Hasina's national address on the now-offline state broadcaster aiming to calm the situation, students have vowed to continue their campaign.
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