Curfew continues in Bangladesh as students want gov’t order on new quota

By Faisal Mahmud and Riyaz ul Khaliq

DHAKA, Bangladesh/ISTANBUL (AA) - Curfew continued for a third consecutive day in Bangladesh on Monday 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%, including 5% for the progeny of war veterans.

Earlier, the 56% 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.

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

To salvage the angry students, the government knocked the Supreme Court on Sunday which asked the administration of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to reduce the quota to 7% 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% quota system, with the government closing educational institutions in response to the unrest.

Some 30% of the 56% 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.