Student protestors in Bangladesh demanding an end to quotas for government jobs called for a statewide strike on Thursday, following deadly violence earlier this week that killed six and injured hundreds.
Angered by high young unemployment, with over 32 million people out of job or school out of a population of 170 million, students have advocated for the elimination of a 30% reservation for the families of freedom fighters.
Beginning Wednesday, authorities closed all public and private universities indefinitely and sent riot police and the Border Guard paramilitary unit to university campuses to maintain peace and order.
The protests are the first significant challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government since she won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Hasina promised her government would set up a judicial panel to investigate the deaths after police fired bullets and tear gas to scatter protesters.
On August 7, the Supreme Court will hear the government’s appeal against a High Court verdict that ordered reinstatement of the 30% reservation for the families of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, she added.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Hasina promised her government would set up a judicial panel to investigate the deaths after police fired bullets and tear gas to scatter protesters.
( Source: Reuters)
