A curfew has been imposed in Bangladesh amid protests and the army has been deployed to maintain law and order, according to Naeemul Islam Khan, a spokesman for the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Office.
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“The government has decided to impose a curfew and send the army to help civilians,” Khan said.
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Earlier it became known that the number of victims of protests in the country reached 105.
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Protests against a quota system for government jobs have been ongoing in Bangladesh for several weeks and intensified this week after violence broke out on the Dhaka University campus on Monday between protesters, police and pro-government student activists. Following the deaths of six people in Bangladesh on Tuesday, the government ordered the closure of universities across the country and police raided the headquarters of the main opposition party.
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Protesters are demanding an end to the quota system, which reserves up to 30% of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Independence. They say the system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, and want to replace the system.
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Bangladesh’s government suspended the quotas after mass student protests in 2018, but last month the country’s High Court overturned the decision and reinstated the quotas after relatives of 1971 veterans filed petitions, sparking new demonstrations. The Supreme Court has since stayed the High Court’s decision and is expected to rule on August 7. The government also appealed the High Court’s decision.
