Dhaka, August 04 (Siliguri Journal) – At least 91 people, including 14 policemen, were killed, and hundreds were injured on Sunday in violent clashes between protesters and ruling party supporters across Bangladesh. The unrest erupted as demonstrators demanded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation. In response, authorities shut down mobile internet and imposed an indefinite nationwide curfew.
The violence began Sunday morning during a protest organized by Students Against Discrimination. The demonstrators were calling for the government’s resignation over a controversial job quota system. They were met with resistance from supporters of the Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League activists.
At least 91 people have died in clashes, shootings, and counter-chases across the country, according to the Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo. The violence erupted during a non-cooperation program.
Police headquarters reported that 14 policemen were among the dead. Thirteen of these officers were killed at Enayetpur police station in Sirajganj, and one was killed in Elliotganj, Comilla. Additionally, more than 300 policemen were injured.
The fresh round of clashes erupted days after over 200 people were killed in violent confrontations between police and mostly student protesters. The demonstrators were demanding an end to a controversial quota system that reserves 30 percent of government jobs for relatives of veterans from Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Independence.
Today’s protests saw the involvement of unidentified individuals and activists from the right-wing Islami Shashontantra Andolon. They erected barricades on several major highways and within the capital city. Officials reported that protesters attacked police stations, ruling party offices, leaders’ residences, and burned several vehicles.
In response to the escalating violence, authorities imposed an indefinite curfew in major cities and small towns across Bangladesh starting at 6 PM on Sunday. Troops, paramilitary border guards (BGB), and the elite Rapid Action Battalion were deployed alongside the police to restore order.
The government also ordered the shutdown of Meta platforms including Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Mobile operators were instructed to disable 4G mobile internet services.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina condemned the unrest, stating that those engaging in “sabotage” in the name of protest are not students but terrorists. She called on the public to suppress these actions with a firm hand.
“I appeal to the countrymen to suppress these terrorists with a firm hand,” she said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called a meeting of the National Committee on Security Affairs, the highest policy-making authority for national security, at Ganabhaban, the daily reported, citing sources from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The meeting included the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, police, RAB, BGB, and other top security officers. This meeting occurred as renewed violence spread across the country.
In response to the ongoing violent protests, the government announced a three-day general holiday on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to ensure public safety.
According to the report, eight people were killed in Feni, 22 (including 13 policemen) in Sirajganj, four in Kishoreganj, six in Dhaka, five in Bogura, three in Munshiganj, four in Magura, three in Bhola, four in Rangpur, three in Pabna, five in Sylhet, three in Cumilla, two in Sherpur, and one in Joypurhat. Additionally, one person was killed in Keraniganj, one in Savar, and one in Barisal.
Six Awami League leaders and activists were beaten to death, and several others were injured in a clash between ruling party supporters and protesters in Narsingdi, according to the report.
In the capital, protesters took the bodies of four people from Dhaka Medical College Hospital to the Central Shaheed Minar, where they chanted anti-government slogans.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital sources reported that 56 people with bullet injuries were brought in from various locations, including Shahbagh, Shanir Akhra, Nayabazar, Dhanmondi, Science Laboratory, Paltan, Press Club, and Munshiganj.
In a related development, a group of former senior military generals on Sunday urged the government to withdraw the armed forces from the streets and send them back to their barracks.
“We urge the government to undertake political initiatives to resolve the ongoing crisis. Do not destroy the good standing of our armed forces by keeping them engaged in a disgraceful campaign,” said former army chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, who served under Prime Minister Hasina’s government.
At a media briefing, Bhuiyan read out a statement emphasizing, “The Bangladeshi armed forces have never faced off with the masses or trained their guns at the chests of their fellow citizens.” Another former army chief, octogenarian General Nuruddin Khan, who also served as energy minister during Hasina’s 1996-2001 tenure, joined the briefing along with fellow officers, some of whom are veterans of the 1971 Liberation War.
“Time is ripe to immediately take the soldiers to barracks to prepare themselves for any eventuality as the time taken to transition from internal security mode to operational mode takes quite some time,” the statement read.
Most shops and malls in Dhaka were closed amid the protests. Hundreds of students and professionals gathered at Dhaka’s Shahbagh, blocking traffic on all sides.
Protesters also assembled at the Science Lab intersection, chanting anti-government slogans on the first day of the non-cooperation movement.
According to the Daily Star newspaper, several vehicles at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) were torched on Sunday by unidentified individuals. People carrying sticks were seen vandalizing private cars, ambulances, motorcycles, and buses on the hospital premises, creating fear among patients, their attendants, doctors, and staff.
Nahid Islam, a coordinator of the anti-government protests, announced that they will stage a demonstration and mass sit-in on Monday to press their one-point demand.
He stated that they will unveil Martyrs’ Memorial plaques across the country on Monday in memory of those killed recently in connection with the quota reform movement.
There have been reports of vandalism and arson attacks on police vehicles and government buildings in multiple locations.
In Chattogram, the residences of Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, as well as the office of AL MP Md Mohiuddin Bachchu, were attacked.
In apparent retaliation, the homes of several leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), including Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, were targeted.
The BNP and its allies, alongside various political, professional, and cultural groups, have rallied behind the student-led movement demanding reforms to the quotas reserved for government jobs.
Prime Minister Hasina extended an offer to meet with the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement on Saturday. However, the movement’s leaders rejected the proposal.
Government officials previously claimed that the “peaceful campaign” had been taken over by the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, with support from former premier Khaleda Zia’s BNP.
