1 month ago
18
DHAKA: New
protests
erupted in
Bangladesh
on Friday against PM
Sheikh Hasina
's govt, demanding accountability after more than 200 people were killed last month in violent demonstrations following weeks of rallies over controversial reforms in the job quota system.
Over 2,000 protesters gathered in parts of the capital, Dhaka, some shouting "down with the autocrat" and demanding justice for victims.
Police and dozens of students clashed in Dhaka's Uttara neighbourhood. Security officers fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse stone-throwing protesters.
In the southwestern district of Khulna, police also fired tear gas and rubber bullets, injuring 50 protesters, the Dhaka-based English-language Daily Star reported. The paper said 50 were also injured in clashes in the northeastern district of Habiganj after an arson attack on a local office of the ruling Awami League party. In the southeastern city of Chattogram, about 1,000 protesters held a procession after Friday prayers and set a roadside police guard post on fire, the report said.
The student protests against the govt, which show no signs of dying down, started as a peaceful demonstration against a quota system allocating govt jobs but morphed into an unprecedented challenge and rebellion against Hasina.
Dramatic videos of deadly clashes between police and protesters have shaken Bangladesh, as has the case of a six-year-old girl who was shot while playing on a rooftop while her father unsuccessfully tried to shield her from the firing.
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