Bangladesh curfew marks third day as students want gov’t order on new quota

Curfew continued for a third consecutive day in Bangladesh as student protesters demanded the government issue a gazette notification on a new quota in public jobs, according to Anadolu correspondent in Dhaka.

According to student leaders of the ongoing anti-quota movement, the government should issue an order following the directions from the Supreme Court which reduced the quota in public jobs to 7 percent, including 5 percent for the progeny of war veterans.

Earlier, the 56 percent quota in public jobs had triggered a mass movement among students which resulted in violent clashes between protesters and government forces.

The death toll during violent demonstrations since last week climbed to 143 by Tuesday morning, health sources told Anadolu.

Thousands of others have been injured.

Internet blackout, nationwide curfew

The government snapped broadband and mobile internet on Thursday and later imposed a nationwide curfew, deploying the military on Friday night, which continues.

To salvage the angry students, the government knocked on the Supreme Court on Sunday which asked the government to reduce the quota to 7 percent in public jobs.

However, a government order to implement the court order was yet to be issued, students said.

Protests surged last week against the 56 percent quota system, with the government closing educational institutions in response to the unrest.

Some 30 percent of the 56 percent quota in public jobs were reserved for the relatives of independence war veterans.

Due to internet blackout, the flow of information from Bangladesh has been minimal while most of local media has been unable to update their websites.