Hundreds of Bangladeshi students armed with bamboo sticks patrolled the location of a planned assembly for ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s supporters on Thursday, pledging to suppress any display of force. According to police and media reports, at least 19 people have been killed in recent days during violent protests over government job allocations.
Hasina called on the nation to “resist all forms of violence and terrorism” in a televised address. She condemned the killings of demonstrators and vowed justice. But the organizers of this month’s protests dismissed her words as insincere and urged their followers to press on with their demands.
The violence flared up again as police clashed with student activists attempting to shut down transportation, and the death toll rose. At least seven people were killed in the fighting, police and doctors said.
Riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds in several cities, including Dhaka. They also hurled sound grenades to scatter protesters throwing bricks and setting fire to vehicles. Hospitals across the country reported receiving thousands of wounded.
In one of the worst scenes, a group of protesters stormed Bangladesh Television’s headquarters, breaking down the main gate and threatening to burn the building down, a news producer and reporter for an online news portal told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of attack. The office was later cleared, though it remained closed.
The state-run radio station was attacked as well. The protesters broke into the broadcaster’s headquarters, threw crude bombs and sticks at the police guards, and set the building and a vehicle on fire. At least five people were injured in the clashes, a police spokesman said.
Students have also staged protests against a rise in utility prices and the government’s plans to sell off a significant stake in its national airline. They have blocked roads and set up human blockades of shops, with riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at them.
The country’s main opposition BNP party has backed the student protesters and joined in their rallies and has been blamed by Hasina for the violence. Late Tuesday, Dhaka police raided the BNP’s headquarters and found 100 crude bombs, 500 wooden and bamboo sticks, and five to six bottles of gasoline. Police also arrested a senior BNP leader, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
The United Nations human rights chief warned of a growing threat to Bangladesh’s freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Volker Turk posted on X that all acts of violence and deadly use of force must be investigated and those responsible held accountable. “Taking a nation of nearly 170 million off the Internet is a drastic step, and it leaves the whole population of Bangladesh incommunicado with the rest of the world,” he said. “This dangerous trend should be reversed as soon as possible.” The interim Bangladesh government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has formed an Interim Cabinet that includes members of the student movement.
