The death toll in Bangladesh from a crackdown on massive student protests has risen to at least 174, with more than 2,500 people arrested, after police and soldiers were granted “shoot-on-sight” orders amid the unrest. The protests were in response to a highly contested quota system for civil service jobs, with 30% of government positions reserved for relatives of veterans who fought in the country’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971. The country’s high court rolled that back Sunday to only 5%, but students are still demanding that a curfew be fully lifted, schools reopened, and detained students and protest leaders released. “The collective anger that you’re seeing is over inequality, lack of opportunity, and a perception that those who are close to the ruling class and ruling elite are getting all the benefits,” says journalist Salil Tripathi, author of a book on the Bangladeshi war of independence.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Democracy Now! | Radio Free (2024-07-23T12:45:43+00:00) Bangladesh: 174 Killed, 2,500 Arrests in Student-Led Protests over Jobs, Inequality & Corruption. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/07/23/bangladesh-174-killed-2500-arrests-in-student-led-protests-over-jobs-inequality-corruption/
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