Deadly Clashes Erupt Over Quota System in Bangladesh

Thirteen people were killed and hundreds injured during violent protests in Dhaka, Bangladesh, against a government job quota policy. The unrest, driven by high youth unemployment, has seen widespread clashes between students and police, prompting authorities to restrict mobile internet services. The government is appealing a recent court decision that reinstated the quota.

Thirteen people were killed as thousands of students armed with sticks and rocks clashed with armed police in Dhaka on Thursday. This marks the worst day of violence in ongoing protests in Bangladesh against a policy allocating quotas for government jobs. Authorities cut some mobile internet services to quell the unrest, which has killed at least 19 people this week.

The fatalities on Thursday included a bus driver, a rickshaw-puller, and three students. Hundreds were injured as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who torched vehicles and buildings. The unrest, the largest since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's reelection, is driven by high youth unemployment, with nearly a fifth of the population jobless or out of education. Protesters demand the state stop reserving 30% of government jobs for families of 1971 independence war veterans.

Prime Minister Hasina's government had scrapped the quota system in 2018, but a High Court reinstated it last month. The government is appealing the decision, and the Supreme Court has suspended the High Court order pending an August 7 hearing. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for restraint and urged an investigation into the violence. Most of Thursday's deaths occurred in Dhaka, with the capital's main university campus seeing the heaviest protests. Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government is open to talks, but protesters have refused, stating, 'Discussions and opening fire do not go hand in hand.' All universities have been shut indefinitely, with security forces deployed to maintain order.

(With inputs from agencies.)