In the Bangladeshi capital, there have been massive student protests recently. According to correspondents’ reports, more than 100 people have been killed.
The cause of the protests is criticism of the state’s system of privileging members of certain groups in access to civil service jobs, including descendants of veterans of the 1971 Liberation War.
Protest leaders point out that the criticized system benefits groups affiliated with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s (Awami League) group, which has ruled the country since 2009. Critics of the prime minister’s rule accuse her of abusing state structures to consolidate her power and combat signs of dissent.
According to Independent Television, protests have spread to nearly half of the state’s 64 districts.
Authorities have decided to shut down the country’s internet. Few messages are coming in and out of Bangladesh.
The administration has also decided to close schools and universities indefinitely. Authorities have banned public gatherings.
In the capital, Dhaka, protesters on Thursday stormed the headquarters of public broadcaster Bangladesh Televishion – resulting in the setting of the building on fire and shutting down the broadcast, while on Friday they stormed prisons, freeing hundreds of prisoners. Demonstrations and rallies are being organized, in defiance of the ban. The clashes left at least 105 people dead.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP that officers arrested Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, a representative of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP that officers arrested Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, a representative of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
According to correspondents’ reports, the marches have continued so far, in defiance of bans and in defiance of the prime minister’s appearance on public television (the broadcast of which was halted after a raid on her building).
Several official websites in Bangladesh have been hacked by a group nicknamed “THE R3SISTANC3.”
The hacked websites include those of the central bank, the prime minister’s office and the police.
According to the Al Jazeera website, unemployment is rampant in Bangladesh, where 40% of young people are neither working nor studying.
The Polish-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce is expressing its concern over social unrest in the country. Chamber authorities are calling for a peaceful resolution of the social disputes.
Za: AFP, Al. Jazeera.