Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi protesters demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resign clashed with government supporters Sunday, with dozens killed in one of the deadliest days since demonstrations began.
At least 93 people, including 14 police personnel, were killed and over a thousand others injured, many with bullets, as a new wave of violence convulsed Bangladesh.
Ruling party activists and police clashed with protesters in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh yesterday in three-way attacks on the first day of the student-led non-cooperation movement.
Police said protesters attacked their officers, including storming a Polish station in the northeastern town of Enayetpur.”The terrorists attacked the police station and killed 11 policemen,”
Mobile internet was tightly restricted.
In several cases, soldiers and police did not intervene to stem the protests, unlike the past month of rallies that repeatedly ended in deadly crackdowns.
Troops briefly imposed order after violence erupted in July.
However, protesters returned to the streets in huge numbers this month in a non-cooperation movement aimed at paralysing the government.
Vast crowds of protesters, many wielding sticks, packed into Dhaka’s central Shahbagh Square on Sunday, with street battles in multiple sites, police said.
“the whole city has turned into a battleground”.
The demonstrations have grown into a wider anti-government movement across the South Asian nation of about 170 million people.
A group of 47 manufacturers in the economically vital garment sector said Sunday they stood in “solidarity” with the protesters.
Obaidul Quader, general secretary of Hasina’s ruling Awami League, has called on party activists to gather “in every district” nationwide to show their support for the government.
Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.
Her government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including through the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.
Demonstrations began in early July over the reintroduction of the quota scheme, which reserved more than half of all go.
The anti-discrimination student movement has announced a “March to Dhaka” program on August 5th, 2024 to press home for their one-point demand: the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
They called upon students and people across the country to join the march to Dhaka.