A new round of violence in Bangladesh has left more than 30 people dead and hundreds injured as protesters clashed with police and ruling party activists on Sunday, officials and media reports said.
As the violence raged, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said those who were engaging in the “sabotage” and the destruction in the name of protests were no longer students, but criminals, and said the people should deal with them with iron hands.
Demonstrators are demanding Hasina’s resignation, after earlier protests in July that began with students calling for an end to a quota system for government jobs escalated into violence that left more than 200 dead.
Also Sunday, the government announced a holiday from Monday to Wednesday. Courts will remain closed for an indefinite period. Mobile internet service was off on Sunday, while Facebook and messaging apps including WhatsApp were inaccessible even on broadband internet.
Junior Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat said Sunday that mobile internet and messaging services were off to help prevent violence.
Authorities in response closed schools and 커뮤니티 universities across the country, blocked internet access and imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew . At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.
Protesters called for a “non-cooperation” effort, urging people not to pay taxes and utility bills and not show up for work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to work.
The protesters attacked Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major public hospital in Dhaka’s Shahbagh area, torching several vehicles.
Video footage showed the protesters vandalizing a prison van in Dhaka’s chief metropolitan magistrate’s court. Other videos showed police clashing with the protesters by opening fire, teargas and rubber bullets. The protesters set fire to vehicles, the ruling party’s offices. Some carried sharp weapons, sticks, according to TV stations’ footage.
In Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who blocked a major highway. Protesters attacked homes and vandalized a community welfare office in the area, where hundreds of ruling party activists took up positions. Some crude bombs were detonated and gunshots were heard, witnesses said. At east 20 people were hit by bullets in the area.