DHAKA: At least 43 people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes in Bangladesh on Sunday as police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters calling on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.
The government announced an indefinite nationwide curfew from 18:00 (12:00 GMT) on Sunday, the first time it has taken such a step during the ongoing protests that began last month. It also announced a three-day general holiday starting Monday.
The unrest, which prompted the government to shut down internet services, is Hasina’s biggest test since deadly protests erupted in January after she won a fourth consecutive term in elections boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Hasina’s critics, along with rights groups, have accused her government of using excessive force to quell the movement, which she and her ministers deny.
Demonstrators blocked major highways on Sunday as student protesters launched a program of non-cooperation to demand the resignation of the government and violence spread across the country.
“Those who are protesting in the streets right now are not students but terrorists who want to destabilize the nation,” Hasina said after a meeting of a national security panel attended by the heads of the army, navy, air force, police and others. agencies.
“I appeal to our countrymen to suppress these terrorists with a strong hand.
Police stations and ruling party offices were targeted in the violence that shook the country of 170 million people.
At least five people were killed and dozens injured in violent clashes at several locations in the capital Dhaka, police and witnesses said.
Two construction workers were killed on their way to work and 30 injured in the central district of Munsiganj, during a three-way clash between protesters, police and ruling party activists, witnesses said.
“They were brought dead to the hospital with gunshot wounds,” said Abu Hena Mohammad Jamal, superintendent of the district hospital.
Clashes
Police said no bullets were fired and the injuries were caused by improvised explosive devices that were detonated as the area turned into a battlefield.
In the northeastern district of Pabna, at least three people were killed and 50 injured during clashes between protesters and activists of Hasina’s ruling Awami League, witnesses said.
Three people were killed in the violence in the northern district of Bogura, and 30 were killed in 12 other districts, hospital officials said.
“The attack on the hospital is unacceptable,” Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen said after a group vandalized a medical university hospital in Dhaka and set vehicles, including an ambulance, on fire.
During the recent protests, the government shut down high-speed internet services for the second time, mobile operators said. Social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp were not accessible, even through broadband.
Bangladeshi authorities on Sunday instructed telecoms there to shut down 4G, effectively disabling internet services, according to a confidential government memo seen by Reuters.
“You are requested to turn off all your 4G services until further notice, only 2G will be effective,” said the document released by the National Telecommunications Monitoring Center, a government intelligence agency.
Telecom companies were previously told their licenses would be revoked if they did not comply with government regulations, a person with direct knowledge told Reuters.
The telecommunications regulatory body did not respond to calls from Reuters.
Last month, at least 150 people were killed and thousands injured in violence sparked by student groups protesting government job quotas.
The protests stopped after the Supreme Court struck down most of the quotas, but students returned to the streets last week in sporadic protests demanding justice for the families of those killed.
“I think the genie is out of the bottle and Hasina may not put it back in the bottle,” said Shakil Ahmed, associate professor of government and politics at Jahangirnagar University.
“The prime minister should form a national government immediately to allow for greater unity.”
