Student protests escalate in Bangladesh, death toll reaches 201

The death toll from student protests in Bangladesh rose to 201 on Thursday, with four more killed in and around the capital Dhaka as a crackdown on opposition parties intensified, officials and local media said.

The ongoing curfew and military deployment that went into effect Saturday continued, with a break from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Offices and industries resumed operations on Wednesday during the same shutdown periods, a government statement said .

Earlier, Law Minister Anisul Haq said the curfew would be withdrawn gradually, observing the situation.

Inspector Bachchu Mia, who is in charge of the police post at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), confirmed to Anadolu three new deaths on Wednesday night. More people are being treated at the hospital, he said.

One more person died in Savar on the outskirts of the capital on the same day.

With these four, the death toll rose to 201. Most of the victims succumbed to bullet wounds, the national newspaper Prothom Alo reported on Thursday.

Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a local welfare organization that provides burial services to Muslims, buried 21 bodies.

In the past three days, police handed over the bodies of 21 victims to the group, including DMCH during the protests, Kamrul Ahmed, an official of the group, told Anadolu.

“We have buried the bodies. We did the job as a routine job. The police have kept the DNA samples and other details for future records and claims,” he added.

Bangladesh has witnessed unprecedented protests and violence since the first of this month over calls for reforms to the quota system for the country’s coveted civil service jobs, which students see as deeply unfair.

Since July 16, protests have intensified after police and members of the ruling party, including the student wing of the Bangladesh Students’ League, reportedly attacked students on university campuses across the country.

The government, however, issued a gazette to reform the quota system, reducing the quota to 7% from 56% following the protests.

The protesting students, however, demanded that the campuses be reopened and normalcy brought to the country and then they will determine the next course of action.

Police have arrested about 4,500 people in the past eight days, including 1,400 on Wednesday. Many of those arrested belong to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, according to Prothom Alo.

On Wednesday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan blamed opposition parties for the violence during the agitation for government job quota reform.

“We will identify them one by one with all our might. They will face legal consequences. We will not back down to ensure that,” the minister said.