Dhaka. Thousands of students armed with sticks and rocks clashed with armed police in Dhaka on Thursday, as the Bangladesh authorities cut some mobile internet services to quell anti-quota protests that have killed at least 10 people this week.
The nationwide protests are the biggest since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was re-elected to a fourth term in office, and are fuelled by high unemployment among the youth, with nearly a fifth of the 170 million population out of work or education.
Four people died in clashes with police in Dhaka on Thursday, the Daily Star newspaper said citing Mizanur Rahman, superintendent of a city hospital. Hundreds more have been injured.
Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government was willing to talk to the protesters, who want the state to stop setting aside 30% of government jobs for the families of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh to independence, has so far refused the protesters’ demands. – Reuters
