Bangladesh wakes Friday to see the devastation caused by the worst day of continuous student protests so far, which saw demonstrators torch government buildings and a nationwide internet blackout imposed.
This week’s violence has killed at least 39 people, including 32 on Thursday. The toll is expected to increase higher due to clashes reported in nearly half of the country’s 64 districts.
According to a police statement made after the nation’s internet was nearly completely taken down, demonstrators burnt, vandalised, and involved in “destructive activities” at several police and government offices.
Among them was the Dhaka headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh Television, which is still offline after hundreds of angry students stormed the campus and set fire to a structure.
“About 100 policemen were injured in the clashes yesterday,” Faruk Hossain, a spokesman for the capital’s police force, told AFP. “Around 50 police booths were burnt”.
The police statement said that if the destruction continued, they would “be forced to make maximum use of law”.
Police fire was the cause of at least two-thirds of deaths reported so far, based on descriptions given to AFP by hospital staff.
At least 26 districts around the country reported clashes on Thursday, broadcaster Independent Television reported.
The network said more than 700 had been wounded through the day including 104 police officers and 30 journalists.
– ‘Apologise to us’ –
Hasina’s government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.
Her administration this week ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely as police step up efforts to bring the deteriorating law and order situation under control.
Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladesh expert at the University of Oslo in Norway, told AFP Thursday that the protests had grown into a wider expression of discontent with Hasina’s autocratic rule.
“They are protesting against the repressive nature of the state,” he told AFP. “The students are in fact calling her a dictator.”
Students have vowed to continue their campaign despite Hasina giving a national address on the now-offline state broadcaster seeking to calm the situation.
“Our first demand is that the prime minister must apologise to us,” protester Bidisha Rimjhim, 18, told AFP on Thursday.
“Secondly, justice must be ensured for our killed brothers,” she added.
London-based watchdog Netblocks said Friday that a “nation-scale” internet shutdown remained in effect.
“The disruption prevents families from contacting each other and stifles efforts to document human rights violations,” it wrote in a social media post on X.
( Source: AFP)
