People stayed at home and many shopping centres were closed in Bangladesh’s capital on Thursday as protesters attempted to impose a “complete shutdown” after days of student demonstrators violently clashing with police and ruling party-backed student activists.
Traffic was thin on Dhaka’s usually clogged streets. Offices and banks opened, but commuters said transport was limited.
Salma Rahman, an official at a financial institution in Dhaka, said that he had left his car at home and got a ride on a motorbike instead.
Police fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse students at the university campus in Dhaka (Rajib Dhar/AP)
“Our office has alerted us to stay safe on streets, as there is fear that violence could happen during the shutdown,” he said.
Students have been demonstrating for weeks against a quota system for government jobs they say favours allies of the ruling party, but the protests have escalated since violence broke out on the campus of Dhaka University on Monday.
Six people were killed amid protests on Tuesday, leading the government to ask universities across the country to close and police to raid the main opposition party’s headquarters.
The violence continued late on Wednesday in Dhaka. Traffic was halted on a major road as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, who set fire to a toll booth, blocked streets and detonated explosives, Somoy TV reported.
Other news outlets said scores were injured in the hours of violence.
On Thursday morning, with lessons suspended and accommodation closed, students near Dhaka’s BRAC University clashed with police, who fired tear gas.
Police set up checkpoints at the entrances to Dhaka University.
On Wednesday night, the protesters announced they would enforce “a complete shutdown” across the country on Thursday in response to security officials’ continued attacks on the campus demonstrators.
Students advocating for reform held a mock funeral at Dhaka University in memory of those who died during clashes on Wednesday (Rajib Dhar/AP)
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party said that it would do what it could to make the shutdown a success.
Protesters are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves up to 30% of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971.
They argue that the system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, and they want it replaced with a merit-based system.
Ms Hasina’s government halted the quotas after mass student protests in 2018. But last month, Bangladesh’s High Court nullified that decision and reinstated the quotas after relatives of the 1971 veterans filed petitions, triggering the latest demonstrations.
The Supreme Court then suspended the High Court’s ruling and is expected to rule on August 7. The government has also separately appealed the High Court decision in the wake of the protest, according to the attorney general’s office.
“I am requesting all to wait with patience until the verdict is delivered,” Ms Hasina said in a televised address on Wednesday evening.
“I believe our students will get justice from the apex court. They will not be disappointed.”
While job opportunities have expanded in Bangladesh’s private sector, many people prefer government jobs because they are stable and well paid. Each year, some 400,000 graduates compete for 3,000 jobs in the civil service exam.
Ms Hasina said there would be a judicial investigation into Tuesday’s deaths and vowed that those responsible would be brought to justice.
“Some precious lives have been lost unnecessarily,” she said. “I condemn every killing.”