Protests in Bangladesh: police fire live ammunition, army deployed

Anti-riot police in Bangladesh fired shots Saturday à live bullets on demonstrators Dhaka, notedé an AFP journalist, and the army was widely deployed in the country's cities the day after another day of deadly clashes .

The development of the movement, launched by student demonstrations and which left at least 115 dead this week, according to an AFP count from police and hospital sources, prompted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to power for 15 years, to cancel its trips abroad.

At least one person was injured among the thousands of demonstrators gathered on Saturday in the Rampura district to protest against the curfew imposed the day before, noted AFP.

A government curfew came into effect at midnight Friday night and the prime minister's office asked the military to deploy troops after police again failed to bring the unrest under control.

“The army has been deployed throughout the country to control disturbances to public order,” the spokesperson for the armed forces told AFP, Shahdat Hossain.

The curfew will remain in effect at least until 10:00 a.m. (04:00 GMT) on Sunday, private channel Channel 24 reported.

“Hundreds of thousands of people” clashed with police in the capital Dhaka on Friday, police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP.

“At least 150 police officers were admitted to hospital. Another 150 received first aid,” he said, adding that two officers were beaten to death.

According to the same source, “protesters set fire to many police booths” and “many government offices were set on fire and vandalized.”

A spokesman for Students Against Discrimination, the main group organizing the protests, told AFP that two of its leaders had been arrested since Friday.

A senior official from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, according to party spokesman Sairul Islam Khan.

Protests in Bangladesh © AFP – John SAEKI, Janis LATVELS

Thousands of people besieged a police base in Rangpur during the night from Friday to Saturday, a senior police official from this city in the north of the country told AFP, and three protesters were killed.

Ms Hasina was due to leave the country on Sunday for a diplomatic tour, but she canceled it after a week of escalating violence.

“She canceled her visits to Spain and Brazil due to the current situation,” Nayeemul Islam Khan told AFP on Saturday.

– “Frustration is growing” –

Demonstrations have been almost daily since the beginning of July.

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Curfew and deployment of soldiers in Dhaka, July 20, 2024 © AFP – Munir UZ ZAMAN

They aim to obtain an end to hiring quotas in the civil service which reserve more than half of the positions for specific groups, in particular for the children of veterans of the country's liberation war against Pakistan in 1971 and favor those close to the power.

Many voices say the program benefits children from pro-government groups supporting Hasina, 76, who has led the country since 2009 and won her fourth election consecutive in January after a vote without real opposition.

Ms. Hasina's government is accused by human rights groups of misusing the institutions of the State to establish its hold on power and eradicate dissent, in particular through the extrajudicial assassination of opposition activists.

Since the first deaths on Tuesday, protesters have begun demanding that Ms. Hasina step down.

“Frustration is growing in Bangladesh because the country has not experienced truly competitive national elections for more than 15 years,” Pierre Prakash of the International Crisis Group observed to AFP.

“With no real alternative at the ballot box, disgruntled Bangladeshis have few options other than street protests to make their voices heard,” he said. -he added.

– “Absolute intolerance” –

Hospitals and police reported Saturday 10 additional deaths following the clashes the day before, and 105 other deaths had been reported since Tuesday.

Police shootings are the cause of more than half of the deaths reported since the start of the week, according to descriptions provided to AFP by hospital staff.

Clashes between demonstrators and police in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 19, 2024 © AFP – Abu SUFIAN JEWEL

“The rising death toll is shocking evidence of the Bangladeshi authorities' utter intolerance of protests and dissent,” said Amnesty's Babu Ram Pant International, in a press release.

The authorities imposed a national internet shutdown on Thursday which remains in force, severely hampering communications inside and outside of Bangladesh.

Government websites remain inaccessible and major newspapers, including the Dhaka Tribune and the Daily Star, have been unable to update their accounts on social networks since Thursday.

Bangladesh Television, the state broadcaster, also remains offline after its headquarters in Dhaka was burned down by protesters the same day.

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