Bangladesh imposes curfew after dozens killed in anti-government protests

From the article:

Bangladesh announced a nationwide curfew on Friday evening after clashes between police and various student groups killed dozens of people amid a violent backlash to a new policy to reserve a portion of government jobs for descendants of the nation’s freedom fighters.

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Schools and universities have been closed indefinitely since before the curfew, and authorities have cut mobile internet services nationwide, citing the need to curb disinformation. NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group, said live network data showed the country plunged into a near-total internet shutdown late Thursday. The websites for several leading Bangladeshi newspapers were either not updated since Thursday or altogether inaccessible. Television channels have also been taken off the air.

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As of late Thursday, before communications were fully severed, news outlets reported conflicting numbers of casualties, although most put the number of dead in the dozens. The leading newspaper, Prothom Alo, reported 29 killed and 1,500 injured Thursday, while AFP put the day’s death toll at 32, citing a police spokesman.

The protests, which have simmered for weeks but ratcheted sharply in recent days, represent the most serious challenge to Hasina, 76, and her Awami League in years. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, helped form the Awami League in 1949, which led the country’s bloody independence struggle against Pakistan in 1971. Hasina has argued that families who participated in the liberation war should be compensated with jobs, but her critics say the program unfairly benefits families close to the Awami League at a time of economic distress.

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Although Hasina has been credited with boosting Bangladesh’s textile export industry and improving public infrastructure over her more than two decades in power, the country has recently been racked by inflation topping 9 percent and stagnant growth. Government positions are often seen as the most secure and coveted option by young jobseekers, but more than half of the slots are reserved for various groups, including residents in remote areas and women.

The 30 percent quota for the descendants of freedom fighters existed until 2018, when it was canceled by the Hasina government amid violent protests. Last month, a Bangladeshi court reinstated the policy, and Hasina continued to argue in its favor.

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The Supreme Court has temporarily suspended the quota policy and said it would make a ruling on its legality on Aug. 7. During her last public appearance Wednesday, Hasina pleaded for “patience” and said she believed “our students will get justice from the court.”