UPDATE - Tens of thousands of demonstrators demand resignation of Bangladeshi Premier Hasina

UPDATES HEADLINE, DECK, BODY WITH DEATHS

By Faisal Mahmud and SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered Friday at Shaheed Minar in central Dhaka, a monument dedicated to Bangladesh’s language movement martyrs, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.

In the rain, the crowd chanted: “One point, one demand; When will you leave, Hasina?" and “The autocrat must go, and democracy must be restored."

“There are no ifs and buts in this movement,” Rashid Anwar, an NGO employee told Anadolu. “We are on the streets with a single demand for Hasina’s resignation.”

The South Asian nation has been in turmoil for the last three weeks due to a student-led protest demanding reforms in the government’s job quotas.

While the government eventually made changes to the quota system, its violent response to the protests resulted in at least 200 deaths, mostly students and ordinary people.

UNICEF South Asia Regional Director Sanjay Wijesekera reported Friday that at least 32 of the deaths were children.

"UNICEF has confirmed that at least 32 children were killed during the protests in July, with many more injured and detained. This is a tragic loss. UNICEF condemns all acts of violence. On behalf of UNICEF, I offer my deepest condolences to the families grieving the loss of their children,” said Wijesekera.

Political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman told Anadolu that the government's apparent indifference to the deaths and efforts to blame political opponents for the violence, rather than holding the perpetrators accountable, has fueled public anger.

“The Hasina administration believed it could quell the protests through brute force and mass arrests, but these actions have only intensified the unrest,” he said.

While most of the protests in Dhaka on Friday remained largely peaceful, demonstrations in the Uttara suburb turned violent when the ruling party’s student wing reportedly attacked protesters without provocation, resulting in injuries to demonstrators.

In the port city of Chattogram in southern Bangladesh, several thousand protesters started marching toward the GEC Corner, a key intersection in the city, following congregational prayers on Friday. They chanted slogans demanding Hasina's resignation.

In the northeastern city of Sylhet, police attempted to halt a large procession of several thousand after the prayers. At one point, officers deployed tear gas, sound grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

Police sources said at least 10 people have been arrested in Sylhet.

There were also reports of violence in Southern Khulna and the northeastern district of Habiganj.

A policeman was killed and another is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit at a hospital. Twenty-five others were injured in clashes with protesters, Khulna Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mozammel Haque told Anadolu.

A man was killed in Habiganj in clashes between protesters and police, according to The Daily Star newspaper.

In protests against the government crackdown, students announced Friday that they would launch a non-cooperation movement from Sunday and a mass march on Saturday.