Bangladeshi authorities have enforced a statewide curfew and deployed the military following fresh unrest in the capital city Dhaka linked to the protests against quota in government jobs.
According to a BBC report 35 people died following fresh clashes between the police and the protestors in various parts of the country.
Overall, 67 people have died since the protests began earlier this month, the report said.
Al Jazeera quoted Bangladesh’s Independent Television channel as reporting 17 more deaths on Friday. On the other hand, Somoy TV reported that 30 people were killed.
However the precise toll is difficult to determine due to an almost full communications lockdown, with mobile internet and phone lines apparently down.
The prime minister’s office ordered the curfew following an attack on Narsingdi jail on Friday, which resulted in the freeing of hundreds of convicts.
Naeemul Islam Khan, press secretary to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced that the army would be deployed on the streets to restore order.
“The government has decided to impose a curfew and deploy the military in aid of the civilian authorities,” he said in a statement.
Bus and train services have been disrupted across the country, and photographs from Dhaka show a huge number of police in riot gear on the streets.
Schools and universities across Bangladesh are also closed until further notice.
However, the protesters have vowed to continue with their own “Complete Shutdown”, which has seen them blockade roads across the city.
The students argue that the quota system is discriminatory and are demanding merit-based recruitment.
A march by some opposition parties was confronted with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades, a report said.
Protestors also stormed the Narsingdi district jail on Friday, where several hundred inmates were reported to have escaped onto the streets. Multiple witnesses confirmed the incident to media.
The main opposition Bangladesh National Party has also called for protest, with the exiled acting chairman Tarique Rahman asking people to support “these tender-hearted students” in a post on Twitter.
Efforts to stop the protests through talks have thus far failed.
Law Minister Anisul Haque had earlier said the government was ready for talks with the protestors. However, the leaders of the agitation have refused to come to the discussion table, citing the firing on the protestors, that they claim, caused so many deaths.
Three days back, internet service providers had disabled access to Facebook, the demonstrators’ primary organising tool.
Earlier this week, outgoing Ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley called for a quick resolution of the present situation. “All friends and partners of Bangladesh want to see a quick resolution of the present situation and the avoidance of further violence and bloodshed,” he said.
The US embassy here has issued a “demonstration alert” for its citizens living in Dhaka and across the country saying the situation is extremely volatile.
The unrest began on July 1, when university students hit the streets demanding the scrapping of quotas in government jobs.
Last month, the High Court reinstated a rule that provides for reservation of 30 percent of the posts for children and grandchildren of those who took part in the country’s liberation war against Pakistan in 1971.
According to reports, around 56 percent of government jobs are now reserved for various categories of citizens in the South Asian nation which has a high unemployment rate.
