The government of Bangladesh has enforced a nationwide curfew after the student-led protest against job quotas.
According to Reuters, military personnel and police patrolled the streets of the capital, Dhaka, on Saturday, July 20. The government has also ordered all officers and institutions to stay closed for two days.
The longest-serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina’s government, has declared Sunday and Monday as public holidays, only allowing the operation of emergency services.
Moreover, the government has also imposed a near-total internet blackout on the nation of over 170 million since Thursday, July 18. Text messaging services and overseas telephone calls are also disrupted in the country.
Additionally, during a week of protests over government job quotas, at least 114 people died.
The authorities have claimed that around 300 police officers were injured during the violent protest by the students.
Babu Ram Pant, the deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International, one of many rights groups, has criticised the Bangladeshi government for not handling the situation, saying, “The rising death toll is a shocking indictment of the absolute intolerance shown by the Bangladeshi authorities to protest and dissent.”
