Army takes to the streets, 300 police officers injured in clashes

Demonstrations have been taking place almost daily since the beginning of July. They aim to obtain an end to hiring quotas in the civil service, which reserve more than half of the positions for specific groups.

The army was widely deployed on Saturday, July 20, in the cities of Bangladesh after a new day of deadly clashes between protesting students and the police.

This week’s violence has left at least 105 people dead, according to an AFP tally based on hospital sources, and poses a major challenge to Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic government after 15 years in power.

At least 300 Bangladeshi police officers were injured in clashes with protesters in several locations in the capital Dhaka on Friday, a police spokesman said on Saturday. “At least 150 police officers were admitted to hospital. Another 150 received first aid.”said the Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman, adding that the police had clashed with “hundreds of thousands” of protesters.

A government curfew came into effect across the country at midnight on Friday night and the prime minister’s office asked the military to deploy troops after police again failed to control the unrest.

The streets of the capital Dhaka were nearly deserted at dawn, with troops on foot and armoured personnel carriers patrolling the sprawling megacity of 20 million people.

The curfew will remain in effect until 10 a.m. on Sunday, private broadcaster Channel 24 reported. Sheikh Hasina was due to leave the country on Sunday for a diplomatic tour, but she backed out of the plan after a week of escalating violence.

The protests have been almost daily since the beginning of July. They aim to obtain an end to the hiring quotas in the civil service which reserve more than half of the positions for specific groups, notably the children of veterans of the country’s liberation war against Pakistan in 1971 and favour those close to the government.

Many say the program benefits children from pro-government groups supporting Sheikh Hasina, 76, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without any real opposition.

His government is accused by human rights groups of abusing state institutions to entrench its grip on power and stamp out dissent, including through the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Police shootings have caused more than half of the deaths reported so far this week, according to descriptions provided to AFP by hospital staff.