Demonstrators announced they would enforce a “complete shutdown” across the country on Thursday in response to attacks on campus protesters.
Thousands of students armed with sticks and stones clashed with armed police in Bangladesh following days of violent confrontations local media say have killed at least 39 people.
The students were demonstrating in the country’s capital, Dhaka, over the way government jobs are allocated.
On Wednesday, the protesters announced they would enforce a “complete shutdown” across the country on Thursday in response to attacks on campus demonstrators.
Police fired tear gas to scatter protesters near the University of Dhaka campus, and some mobile internet services were cut in an attempt to limit the demonstrations.
Officers also fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing students who blocked a main road in the southern port city of Chittagong.
Anti-quota supporters clash with police and Awami League supporters at the Rampura area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 18, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
Authorities shut all public and private universities indefinitely from Wednesday and sent riot police and the Border Guard paramilitary force to university campuses.
The nationwide protests have been fuelled by high unemployment among the youth. Nearly a fifth of Bangladesh’s 170 million population are out of work or education.
The protesters want the state to stop setting aside 30% of government jobs for families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
They argue the system favours allies of the country’s ruling party, which led the independence movement.
‘Some precious lives have been lost unnecessarily’
Bangladesh’s law minister Anisul Huq said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had asked him to talk to the protesters.
Ms Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence and has so far rejected the protesters’ demands.