Bangladesh: Government sends army against student protests to the streets
**Disputes between protesting students and security forces have escalated in Bangladesh. According to an AFP reporter, the police shot at demonstrators in the capital Dhaka on Saturday, leaving at least one person injured. The demonstration took place despite a city-wide curfew in effect since midnight. The government also deployed massive military forces onto the streets.
According to an AFP count, at least 115 people have been killed in the protests. Several hospitals reported that significantly more people have died from gunshot wounds since Thursday. According to a government spokesperson, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cancelled her planned trips to Spain and Brazil due to the situation in the country. In Narsingdi, in the center of the country, students, according to police reports, stormed a prison on Friday and possibly freed hundreds of inmates. Subsequently, the demonstrators set the prison on fire.
The government had already issued an internet ban on Thursday, making communication in the country more difficult. The largest publishers in the country cannot update their news portals. The state-run radio cannot go on air since demonstrators set its headquarters in Dhaka on fire on Thursday.
Students in Bangladesh have been protesting for weeks almost daily against the government's quota system, which reserves more than half of well-paid public sector jobs for specific population groups.
According to critics, the quotas benefit supporters of the 76-year-old Hasina, who was re-elected for a fourth term in January in an election with virtually no opposition.**
The students demand a merit-based system instead of quotas for the allocation of attractive jobs.
The army was deployed onto the streets of Bangladesh as disputes between demonstrators and the government over the quota system intensified. Despite the city-wide curfew, demonstrators continued to protest on the streets of Dhaka, leading to clashes with security forces. On Saturday, the army was reportedly present when police shot at demonstrators, further escalating tensions.
