DHAKA: Bangladesh has announced the imposition of a curfew and the deployment of military personnel following police completely failed to quell days of deadly unrest that has spread across the South Asian country.
This week’s deadly clashes between student protestors and police have killed around 105 people, according to western media count of victims reported by hospitals, and pose a crucial challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic administration following 15 years in office.
Hasina’s press secretary Nayeemul Islam Khan said that the government of Bangladesh took the decision to impose a curfew and deploy the army in aid of the civilian administration. He said that the curfew would take immediate effect.
Bangladesh Unrest
Police in Dhaka earlier took the drastic measures of banning all gatherings for the day — a first since protests started in an effort to forestall violence.
Police chief Habibur Rahman said that they have banned all rallies, protests and public gatherings in Dhaka, saying the move was essential to ensure “public safety”.
That however did not prevent another round of clashes between police and protesters around the sprawling megacity of 20 million people, despite an internet shutdown aimed at annoying the organization of rallies.
“Our protest demonstration will continue,” Sarwar Tushar, who joined a protest in Dhaka and sustained injuries when it was violently dispersed by police personnel. Sarwar Tushar said that they want the immediate resignation of Hasina, adding the current government is responsible for the killings of innocent protestors.
Protesters in Bangladesh Set Jail on Fire
Student protesters also stormed a prison in the central Bangladeshi district of Narsingdi and released its prisoners before setting the jail on fire, a police officer told the media on condition of anonymity.
Moushumi Sarker, a senior government official in Narsingdi, confirmed the incident but provided no further details. Residents near the jail reported seeing numerous inmates leaving with their belongings following the chaos.
Around 52 people were killed in Dhaka on Friday, according to a list prepared by the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Police personnel fire was the main cause of more than half of the deaths reported so far this week, AFP reported.
UN Human Rights Chief Terms Attacks as Shocking
UN human rights chief head Volker Turk stated that the attacks on student protesters were ” unacceptable and shocking”. In a statement, he said that there must be neutral, prompt and exhaustive probs into these deadly attacks, and those responsible held to answer.
Police earlier said protest demonstration had on Thursday torched, destroyed and carried out “destructive acts” on numerous government and police offices.
Among these offices was the Dhaka headquarters of official broadcaster Bangladesh Television, which remains offline following hundreds of incensed students attacked the premises and set fire to a compound.
Hasina’s autocratic government is accused by rights activists and groups of misusing state machinery to entrench its hold on power and stamp out opposition, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition leaders and activists.
