Bangladesh Wakes to Torched Govt Buildings, Internet Blackout

AFP/APP

Dhaka: Bangladesh woke Friday to survey destruction left by the deadliest day of ongoing student protests so far, which saw government buildings torched by demonstrators and a nationwide internet blackout put into effect.

This week’s unrest has killed at least 39 people, including 32 on Thursday, with the toll expected to rise further after reports of clashes in nearly half of the country’s 64 districts.

A police statement issued after a near-total shutdown of the nation’s internet said protesters had torched, vandalized, and carried out “destructive activities” on numerous police and government offices. Among them was the Dhaka headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh Television, which remains offline after hundreds of incensed students stormed the premises and set fire to a building.

“About 100 policemen were injured in the clashes yesterday,” Faruk Hossain, a spokesman for the capital’s police force, told AFP. “Around 50 police booths were burnt.”

The police statement said that if the destruction continued, they would “be forced to make maximum use of law.”

Police fire was the cause of at least two-thirds of the deaths reported so far, based on descriptions given to AFP by hospital staff. At least 26 districts around the country reported clashes on Thursday, broadcaster Independent Television reported.

The network said more than 700 had been wounded through the day, including 104 police officers and 30 journalists.

Near-daily marches this month have called for an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country’s 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

Critics say the scheme benefits children of pro-government groups that back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.