Bangladesh
National curfew after violent student riots
Nelly Kronstrand
Updated 22.02 | Published 22.00
The crisis in Bangladesh continues.
The death toll has risen to 100 people and around 1,000 people have been injured in the student demonstrations.
Now the authorities have announced a national curfew - and called in military forces to break up the violent scenes on the country's streets.
The students have set fire to government and police buildings, stormed the stately television station and beaten police with bricks and bamboo poles.
Since the beginning of the week, violence has escalated in Bangladesh - where students are demanding new laws for employment in the country's public sector.
On Friday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued a national curfew to tame the student demonstrations.
- The government has decided to impose a curfew and deploy the military to help the civil authorities, Hasina's press secretary Nayeemul Islam Khan told AFP.
Stormed prison
Earlier on Friday, the protesters stormed a prison in the Narsingdi district of Bangladesh.
Then hundreds of prisoners were freed, before the students set fire to the building, reports AFP.
- Our protests will continue, protester Sarwar Tushar told the news agency.
Before Friday's curfew, the government had also closed school and universities.This after the authorities shut down the internet in almost the entire country.
The requirement: New rules
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed from the main opposition party Bangladesh nationalist party (BNP) has now been arrested by police.
Kabir Rizvi Ahmed is suspected of "hundreds of crimes", according to the police.
Clashes between police and students have spread to at least 26 regions in the country.
Already at the beginning of July, the demonstrations began to take place. Only this week did the students' demands escalate to violent scenes.
The students' anger is directed at the authorities' employment rules, which are currently based on a quota system - where around half of the jobs are awarded to relatives of veterans from the 1971 liberation war.
The requirement is that employment must be based on merit.
The death toll is rising
During Friday, local hospitals announced that the death toll had risen to 105 people, reports AFP.
According to hospital sources, half of the deaths have been caused by police firing shots at protesters.
Already on Wednesday, Hasina commented on the escalated violence.
She then said that those who caused the deaths in connection with the demonstrations will be punished. Regardless of political affiliation.
- I will ensure that those guilty of murder, looting and violence - whoever they may be - will receive appropriate punishment, Hasina said in a televised address to the nation.
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