Bangladeshi students mourned their classmates on Wednesday following protests over civil service hiring rules that turned deadly, prompting the government to order the indefinite closure of schools nationwide to restore order.
Tuesday saw six fatalities in clashes across the country, where rival student groups engaged in violence with bricks, bamboo rods, and clashes with police using tear gas and rubber bullets. The day marked the peak of weeks of protests demanding an end to a job quota system that critics argue favors members of Bangladesh’s ruling party.
Plans for a public funeral ceremony at Dhaka’s main university were thwarted by riot police, who barricaded entrance roads with barbed wire. “Our protests will continue despite the violence unleashed upon us,” said Chamon Fariya Islam, a student at Dhaka University.
Around 200 students attempted to march to the ceremony site, only to be dispersed by police using stun grenades after prolonged unrest on campus. Throughout Tuesday night, Dhaka University students searched dormitories and expelled pro-government peers in efforts to quell violence.
Clashes between the ruling Awami League’s student wing and demonstrators had escalated in the preceding days, resulting in over 400 injuries on Monday. “The killing of students yesterday sparked immense anger,” said Abdullah Mohammad Ruhel, a master’s student at Dhaka University.
The government’s subsequent directive on Tuesday evening ordered the closure of all schools, universities, and Islamic seminaries until further notice, following deployments of paramilitary forces in major cities to restore order. Police also raided the main opposition party’s headquarters in central Dhaka, arresting seven members of its student wing and seizing weapons.
Amidst widespread internet outages affecting Facebook, a key platform for organizing protests, demonstrations persisted nationwide on Wednesday. Students in Narayanganj blockaded a railway line in ongoing protests against the quota system.
The unrest underscores deep-seated grievances over a system that reserves more than half of civil service positions for specific groups, including veterans’ children from Bangladesh’s 1971 war. Critics argue this benefits allies of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose administration has faced criticism from rights groups and international bodies urging restraint in handling peaceful protests.
