Bangladeshi students on Thursday rejected a reconciliation offer from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who promised justice for seven people killed in protests, and vowed to continue nationwide protests against civil service recruitment rules.
Bangladesh students reject PM’s reconciliation offer after deadly protests
Hasina’s government has ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely, intensifying efforts to contain weeks of rallies demanding equal access to public sector jobs.
Riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds, while protesters aligned with the prime minister’s ruling Awami League party and students fought in the streets with bricks and bamboo sticks.
In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Hasina condemned the “killings” of protesters and vowed that those responsible would be brought to justice, regardless of their political affiliation.
But the Students’ League Against Discrimination, the main organiser of this month’s rally, said her comments were disingenuous and urged her supporters to go ahead with the rally.
“It does not reflect the murders and mayhem carried out by her party activists,” Asif Mahmood, one of the protest coordinators, told AFP.
The group called on Bangladeshis to follow nationwide lockdown measures, including closing shops and staying at home on Thursday, ahead of new protests planned for later in the day.
The call was heard widely in the capital Dhaka, with few cars to be seen on the city’s usually busy roads.
Dhaka residents reported widespread mobile internet outages on Thursday, two days after internet providers cut off access to Facebook, a key organising tool for the protest movement.
Police said Thursday that a seventh protester had been killed the previous night, confirming that a police weapon had killed the 18-year-old man.
“He was hit by a rubber bullet,” police inspector Batu Mia told AFP. “He was taken to hospital but died before being admitted.” — Hundreds injured —
Clashes broke out across the country on Wednesday, leaving more than 500 people injured, and six people were killed on Tuesday.
Hasina’s speech did not assign responsibility for the deaths, but hospital officials and students previously gave accounts to AFP that at least some of the victims were killed when police used what appeared to be non-lethal weapons against protesters.
Human rights group Amnesty International said video evidence of this week’s clashes showed Bangladeshi security forces used unlawful force.
Fresh clashes overnight included fighting between police and more than 1,000 protesters on the outskirts of Dhaka, who set fire to a roadside toll booth.
“We were fending off protesters all night long,” Deputy Police Commissioner Iqbal Hossain told AFP, adding that officers eventually dispersed the protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas.
At the heart of the protests is a demand to end quotas for high-paying government jobs, which opponents say unfairly benefits lawmakers from Bangladesh’s ruling party.
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