DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh observed a day of mourning on Tuesday to commemorate the deaths of more than 200 people in recent weeks of violence sparked by student protests over civil service quotas in the South Asian country.
Violence erupted on July 15 when activists from the student branch of the ruling party attacked protesters after weeks of peaceful protests by students seeking to change the system that allocates 30 percent of government jobs to veterans and families of freedom fighters from the 1971 Pakistan War of Independence. Security officials used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to quell the violence.
The quota protests have become the most serious challenge to Bangladesh's government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won a fourth term in January's election, but the main opposition party boycotted the vote.
The ruling Awami League party and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party have often accused each other of fomenting political unrest and violence, most recently in the run-up to the elections, with crackdowns on several opposition figures.
Government officials, including the Bangladesh Secretariat – the highest body that houses most of Bangladesh's ministers and bureaucrats – wore black badges on Tuesday to mourn those killed in the violence.
Bangladesh has been slowly returning to normal in recent days, with a strict curfew being eased. Authorities have also asked all mosques, temples and other religious places to organize special prayers for the dead on Tuesday.
Late on Tuesday, Hasina visited the government hospital in the capital Dhaka, where many of the injured were receiving treatment. She asked the hospital authorities to ensure the best possible treatment.
Also on Tuesday, members of 31 cultural groups marched through Dhaka's city center to condemn the deaths due to violence, but were blocked by police. No violence was reported as singers and other activists continued to protest peacefully, sitting on the streets and blocking the area with heavy police presence.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan put the total death toll at 150, while India's main Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported that 211 people had been killed and thousands injured since violence erupted on July 15.
Media reports say about 10,000 people have been arrested in connection with protests and other attacks on state property over the past two weeks. Human rights groups have called for an end to arbitrary arrests, while critics have accused the government of using excessive force to suppress the violence.
“The mass arrests and arbitrary detention of student protesters is a witch hunt by the authorities to silence anyone who challenges the government and is a tool to perpetuate a climate of fear,” Smriti Singh, Amnesty International’s South Asia director, said in a statement on Monday.
“These arrests appear to be entirely politically motivated and in retaliation for the exercise of human rights,” Singh said.
The government said arrests were made on specific charges, CCTV footage was reviewed and evidence was taken to clarify its position.
Six protest coordinators detained at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Headquarters issued a statement calling off the protest, but other protesters refused to make a video statement, calling it coercive.
They said they would protest until all their demands, including a public apology from Prime Minister Hasina, were met.
Police said the six coordinators were detained for their safety and their families met them on Monday. A video was posted showing the six having a meal with Dhaka’s crime chief, Haroon-O-Rashid.
Human rights activists have called for the six to be released so they can return to their families.
The protesters have no leader, but the movement has several coordinators across the country. A press release from one coordinator, Abdul Hannan Masood, called for protests at educational institutions, courts and major roads on Wednesday. The press release could not be independently verified.
Also on Tuesday, Bangladesh's Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government would ban the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party and Islami Chhatra Sibir, a student party. Hasina and several other cabinet ministers have accused the party and the student party of playing a role in violence during the student protests.
Huq said a 14-party alliance led by the ruling Awami League decided on Wednesday to formally ban the Jamaat-e-Islami party and the Students' Party. Details of the ban were not immediately clear.
The party was Hasina's archrival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) partner from 2001 to 2006. The party supported the Pakistani military and actively campaigned against the creation of independent Bangladesh in 1971.
Protesters say the 30 percent quota system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Hasina, a member of the Awami League that led the independence movement, and they demand that it be replaced by a merit-based system.
On July 21, the Supreme Court ordered that the quota for veterans of the 1971 war be reduced to 5%. Of the remaining 93% of civil service jobs would be based on merit, and the remaining 2% would be reserved for minorities, transgender people, and people with disabilities. Two days later, the government accepted the ruling and promised to enforce it.
The status of 1971 war veterans remains a controversial issue in Bangladesh, as the quota also applied to women and their children who were raped by Pakistani soldiers and their collaborators during the war of independence. The women were recognized as “freedom fighters” for their ordeals. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was Bangladesh’s independence leader.
Broadband and mobile data services were restored Tuesday after a days-long internet blackout, but social media platforms including Facebook remained blocked. Banks and offices were open under a relaxed curfew. Schools and other educational institutions remained closed with no set date for reopening as police continued to battle protesters.
