DHAKA: Bangladesh has announced a curfew and deployed military forces after police failed to quell days of deadly unrest spreading throughout the country.
Recent clashes between demonstrators and police have killed more than 100 people, and pose a momentous challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic government after 15 years in office, As per media report.
“The government has decided to impose a curfew and deploy the military in aid of civilian authorities,” Hasina’s press secretary Nayeemul Islam Khan told media. He added that the curfew would take effect immediately.
It is pertinent to mention that police in Dhaka earlier took the drastic step of banning all public gatherings for the day in an effort to forestall more violence.
“We’ve banned all rallies, processions, and public gatherings in Dhaka today,” police chief Habibur Rahman told media, adding that the move was necessary to ensure “public safety.”
Unfortunately, that did not stop another round of confrontations between police and protesters, despite an internet shutdown aimed at frustrating the organization of rallies.
“Our protest will continue,” Sarwar Tushar, who joined a march in the capital and sustained minor injuries when it was violently dispersed by police, told the media.
“We want the immediate resignation of Sheikh Hasina. The government is responsible for the killings,” he said.
Student protesters stormed a jail in the central Bangladeshi district of Narsingdi, freed its inmates, and set the facility on fire, a police officer told media on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know the number of inmates, but it is likely in the hundreds,” he added.
