Police have clashed with student protesters attempting to impose a "complete shutdown" in Bangladesh's capital following days of violent confrontations during demonstrations over a system of allocating government jobs.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Students have been demonstrating for weeks against a quota system for government jobs they say favours allies of the ruling party, but the protests have escalated since violence broke out between protesters, police and pro-government student activists on the campus of Dhaka University on Monday.
Six people were killed on Tuesday, leading the government to ask universities across the country to close and police to raid the main opposition party's headquarters.
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.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party said it would do what it could to make the shutdown a success.
Clashes continued as protesters attempted to enforce the shutdown on Thursday morning.
In Dhaka's Uttara neighbourhood, hundreds of protesters were chased by police after they blocked the road and chanted.
In other places, police fired tear gas and charged with batons disperse the protesters, who threw stones in response.
Scores, including police, were injured in the violence, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said.
Police said protesters attacked and set fire to a traffic police box and vandalised police vehicles amid clashes across the city.
Traffic was thin on Dhaka's usually clogged streets on Thursday morning, while many shopping centres closed.
Offices and banks opened but commuters complained that transport was limited.
Police set up checkpoints at the entrances to Dhaka University.
Local television reported violence in other cities including Chattogram and Khulna, while protesters also blocked some major highways.
Protesters are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves up to 30 per cent of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971.
They argue 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.
Hasina's government halted the quotas after mass student protests in 2018.
But in June, Bangladesh's High Court nullified that decision and reinstated the quotas after relatives of the 1971 veterans filed petitions, triggering the latest demonstrations.
The Supreme Court then suspended the High Court's ruling and is expected to rule in August.
The government has also appealed the High Court decision following the protest.
"I am requesting all to wait with patience until the verdict is delivered," Hasina said in a televised address on Wednesday.
"I believe our students will get justice from the apex court. They will not be disappointed."
Australian Associated Press
