DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Several major universities in Bangladesh agreed to shut their doors Wednesday after at least six people died in violent campus protests over government job allocations, police raided the main opposition party’s headquarters, and student protesters announced a total shutdown of all but essential services.
After two days of clashes, the University Grants Commission urged all public and private universities to close until further notice, and about a dozen major public universities said they would, according to officials and media reports. Wednesday was a public holiday in Bangladesh, so the actual number of universities that closed was expected to become clearer on Thursday.
Among them was Dhaka University, which was at the center of the violence. It has suspended classes and closed its dormitories indefinitely, a university official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
On Wednesday, the protesters announced they would enforce “a complete shutdown” across the country on Thursday in response to security officials' continued attacks on the campus demonstrators.
Asif Mahmud, one of the protest organizers, said in a Facebook post that they would allow only hospitals and other emergency services to operate. There was no immediate response from authorities.
Protesters are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves up to 30% of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971. They argue that the system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, and they want it replaced with a merit-based system.
Quotas were halted by a court order after mass student protests in 2018. But last month, Bangladesh’s High Court nullified that decision, reinstating the system and triggering new demonstrations. That court order has since been suspended, but the protests continued, turning violent this week.
Hasina asked the protesters to have faith in the Supreme Court, which is due to issue a new decision on quotas soon.
“I am requesting all to wait with patience until the verdict is delivered," she said in a televised address Wednesday evening. "I believe our students will get justice from the apex court. They will not be disappointed.”
She expressed deep shock over the deaths, saying there would be a judicial probe and vowing that those responsible would be brought to justice.
“Some precious lives have been lost unnecessarily,” she said. “I condemn every killing.”
The clashes come months after Hasina held onto power in an election that was boycotted by opposition parties. Some opposition members were jailed ahead of the polls.
The protests began late last month but turned violent on Monday as protesters at Dhaka University clashed with police and counterprotesters organized by the Awami League's student wing, leaving 100 people injured. At least six people were killed Tuesday in continued violence in the capital Dhaka, the southeastern city of Chattogram and the northern city of Rangpur, authorities said.
There were new clashes on Wednesday at Dhaka University, where police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who carried empty coffins to represent the people killed, witnesses said. Paramilitary forces patrolled the streets of the capital and other big cities.
Police also clashed with supporters of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Dhaka after a funeral Wednesday for the six people who died. Police official Sentu Mia said they used rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, who they said attacked police, and several opposition activists were arrested. BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir accused police of barring their supporters from the funeral prayers.
Bangladesh's ruling party blamed the BNP for the chaos, and Dhaka police raided the party's headquarters overnight. Detective Chief Harun-or-Rashid said police arrested seven members of the party’s student wing, and accused them of setting fire to two buses. He said detectives found 100 crude bombs, 500 wooden and bamboo sticks, and five to six bottles of gasoline in the raid.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a senior BNP leader, accused the government of “staging” the raid to divert attention from the protests.
The Awami League leader said the opposition was using the protests as a weapon against Hasina. Obaidul Quader, the Awami League's general secretary and a senior Cabinet minister, said “evil forces” had taken over the student movement, blaming the student wings of the BNP and rightist Jamaat-e-Islami party for Tuesday's violence.
Facebook has been occasionally inaccessible to Associated Press reporters in Bangladesh since the violence erupted, although other platforms such as Slack were working. The government has not commented on the disrupted service, but global internet monitor NetBlocks said there may have been an official crackdown.
“Our metrics indicate a high likelihood of intentional interference with Facebook as well as WhatsApp backend servers over the last few days in Bangladesh,” Alp Toker, the director of NetBlocks, told AP, adding that the disruption “appears to target the protests or their coverage and public visibility.”
Meta, which owns Facebook and WhatsApp, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The quota system also reserves government jobs for women, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities, but protesters have only sought to end the quota for veterans' families. Protesters have said they are apolitical.
While job opportunities have expanded in Bangladesh’s private sector, many people prefer government jobs because they are considered stable and well paid. Each year, nearly 400,000 graduates compete for 3,000 jobs in the civil service exam.
Last week, the Supreme Court suspended the order by the High Court that reinstated the quotas and the chief justice asked students to return to classes, but the protests continued.
Hasina defended the quotas Tuesday, saying veterans deserve the highest respect for their sacrifice in 1971, regardless of their current political affiliation.
“Abandoning the dream of their own life, leaving behind their families, parents and everything, they joined the war with whatever they had,” she said during an event at her office in Dhaka.
Her Awami League party, under her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the independence war with the help of India. Rahman was assassinated along with many family members in a military coup in 1975.
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Associated Press reporter Barbara Ortutay contributed to this report from San Francisco, California.
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