New Delhi: As an internet and telecom clampdown amid violent student protests has effectively cut off Bangladesh from the rest of the world, India’s external affairs ministry said on Friday (July 19) that it saw the situation as “an internal matter of the country”.
“We are aware of the measures taken by the local authorities in view of the protests. Our high commission remains in touch with local authorities for the safety of our nationals,” spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, adding that the ministry has issued an advisory and emergency helpline numbers for Indians in Bangladesh.
Thursday also saw the highest daily death toll in the clashes involving protesting students, the police and supporters of the government.
Reports of Thursday’s toll are varying. Reuters estimated it at 13, while AFP reported that 32 were killed.
The former said that according to officials, the deaths included a bus driver who suffered a bullet wound, a rickshaw-puller as well as three students.
According to descriptions given by hospital staff, AFP said police fire was the cause of at least two-thirds of deaths reported.
Hundreds of others were injured yesterday as police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protestors, who have reportedly torched buildings, vehicles and police posts.
Thursday’s deaths occurred after six people were killed in clashes between students, who are protesting against a controversial quota system, and a pro-government student body earlier this week.
Bangladeshis reported widespread internet outages on Thursday night after the government announced it would temporarily suspend mobile services.
As of the filing of this article, the websites of some major local newspapers like the Dhaka Tribune and Daily Star remain unavailable.
Reuters reported that as of Friday morning, TV channels in the country were off the air and there was no mobile internet or broadband available.
It cited one of its photographers as saying only some voice calls and no SMSs were going through.
Internet services watchdog Netblocks said that as of early on Friday local time, Bangladesh had been “cut off from the world for over six hours, with a nation-scale internet shutdown in effect”.
Also read: A Faux Pas by Bangladesh’s PM Has Morphed a Small Protest Into a Nationwide Movement
Protesters storm Bangladesh Television’s head office
Earlier on Thursday, protesters stormed the headquarters of state-run broadcaster Bangladesh Television in Dhaka.
A post on BTV’s verified Facebook page said a fire was “catastrophic” and “spreading fast”.
“We seek the cooperation of the Fire Service. Many people are trapped inside,” the broadcaster said.
AFP cited a BTV official as saying that hundreds of protesters had stormed the premises, setting alight at least 60 vehicles and an office building.
“They first torched a police post at Rampura after police opened fire at them,” he said, referring to a neighbourhood in the capital Dhaka.
“They chased the police officers when they took refuge at the BTV office. Angry protesters then caused mayhem here.”
The country’s law minister Anisul Huq said in the afternoon that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked him to sit down with the protesters for dialogue, and he was ready to speak with them on Thursday if protesters were willing.
Why are students protesting?
Students have been demanding the abolition of a quota of 30% reserved for the families of those who fought in the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.
Protesters argue that the reservations have led to widespread unemployment in the country.
Bangladesh has nearly 32 million people who are out of work or education among a population of 170 million.
Also read: Bangladesh’s Crumbling Democracy No Roadblock for Superpowers
Sadat Tasnim, a Bangladeshi rights activist based in Germany, told DW that there have been concerns about strains in the job market.
“With rising inflation and no job security, the youth hoped for secure government jobs. But the existing quota system added an unfair hurdle,” he said.
Government to investigate casualties
Authorities had shut all public and private universities indefinitely from Wednesday and sent riot police and the Border Guard paramilitary force to university campuses to keep order.
In a speech on Wednesday, Sheikh Hasina promised her government would set up a judicial panel to investigate the deaths after police fired bullets and tear gas to scatter protesters.
Hasina urged the students to remain patient until the Supreme Court hears on August 7 the government’s appeal against a high court decision that ordered the reinstatement of the 30% quota, which was scrapped in 2018 following protests.
International reactions
On Thursday, India’s high commission in Bangladesh advised Indians living in the country to “avoid local travel and minimise their movement outside their living premises”.
“Our high commission will be providing regular updates. I will also be posting regular updates. I would urge family members to follow us for latest developments. We remain committed to providing all possible assistance to our nationals in Bangladesh,” Jaiswal said on Friday.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN secretary general Antonio, said yesterday that “violence is never a solution”.
“We urge the government to ensure a conducive environment for dialogue and we encourage protesters to engage in dialogue to resolve the deadlock,” Dujarric said.
US state department spokesperson Vedant Patel said yesterday that “freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are essential building blocks to any thriving democracy and we condemn the recent acts of violence in Bangladesh”.
On Monday, spokesperson Matthew Miller said that his government was monitoring reports saying two people had died in the protests.
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry responded by saying it was “extremely disappointed” by Miller’s statements and that he had made “made unsubstantiated claims of at least two deaths from the ongoing student protests in Bangladesh,” the Prothom Alo newspaper reported.
“Use of unverified information to make such baseless claims can fuel violence and undermine Bangladesh government’s efforts to maintain a peaceful environment to allow non-violent protests or movement,” Seheli Sabrin, a spokesperson for Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said.
“Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are cornerstones of our democracy,” she continued to say.
“Violence doesn’t have any place in democracy and politics,” Sabrin also said, adding that Bangladesh’s government was “deeply concerned” by the attempt on Donald Trump’s life on Sunday.
With inputs from DW.
